How to Voluntarily Terminate Parental Rights in Nevada

To voluntarily terminate parental rights in Nevada, you file a verified petition in the district court for the county where the child lives, serve the other parent, and prove at a closed hearing that ending the parent-child relationship is in the child’s best interests. The case is governed by NRS Chapter 128, and the judge must find your evidence clear and convincing before signing an order.¹ The order is permanent, and judges apply the same scrutiny to voluntary petitions that they apply to contested ones.

Why the Court Usually Won’t Grant It on Its Own

Before you spend time on paperwork, understand the practical gate. Nevada courts will not terminate your parental rights simply because you want out of child support. The state’s Self-Help Center states it directly: you cannot give up parental rights to avoid child support.²

In practice, nearly every successful voluntary termination in Nevada happens alongside a stepparent adoption. Another adult is ready to assume the legal and financial role, so the judge isn’t being asked to leave the child with one less parent. If you consent to a stepparent adoption, the process moves quickly because no one is contesting it. You sign a Consent to Terminate Rights and Child Adoption form, the stepparent and remaining biological parent file the adoption petition, and the judge independently confirms the adoption and termination serve the child.³

Without a stepparent or other adoptive placement waiting, expect the court to push back hard, no matter how willing you are to sign.

What You Have to Prove

Under NRS 128.105, the judge must find two things: that termination is in the child’s best interests, and that your conduct fits at least one statutory ground.⁴ The grounds include abandonment, neglect, unfitness, failure of parental adjustment, risk of serious harm to the child, and token efforts to support or communicate with the child.

Abandonment is the ground that fits most voluntary cases. NRS 128.012 defines it as conduct showing a settled intent to give up all parental custody and all claims to the child.⁵ If you have left the child in someone else’s care for six months without providing support or communication, the law presumes abandonment. The presumption shifts the burden, but the judge still looks at the whole picture before ruling.

Beyond the grounds, judges weigh factors from NRS 128.106 that cover mental or emotional illness, cruel or abusive conduct, substance abuse, repeated failure to provide food, clothing, shelter, or education when able to do so, certain felony convictions, and failed reunification efforts by public or private agencies.⁵ The point is to confirm the request reflects genuine inability or unwillingness to parent rather than a temporary rough patch.

Preparing and Filing the Petition

Any person can file a termination petition. NRS 128.040 also authorizes the child welfare agency or a probation officer to file.⁶ The petition is “verified,” meaning you sign under penalty of perjury that the facts are true or based on a reasonable belief.

NRS 128.050 requires the petition to include:⁷

The child’s name, age, and residence.
The names and residences of both parents.
The name and residence of anyone with physical custody of the child.
The child’s legal guardian’s name and residence, if one exists.
The nearest known relative’s name and residence, if no parent or guardian can be found.
Whether the child may be an Indian child under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Whether the petitioner or child receives public assistance.

If a fact is unknown, say so in the petition rather than leaving the field blank.

A complete filing with the Clerk of the Court includes a Family Cover Sheet, the Petition to Terminate Parental Rights, and a Notice of Hearing.⁸ The Self-Help Center provides fillable forms, including the Consent to Terminate Rights form a parent uses when they agree to the termination.³ File in the county where the child lives. Filing fees run roughly $275 based on the combined statutory fees in NRS Chapter 19 and vary by county. If you cannot afford the fee, file an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, which waives the cost based on your income and resources.

Serving the Other Parent

The other parent has a constitutional right to notice, and Nevada enforces it strictly. Under NRS 128.060, the clerk issues a notice summarizing the petition and giving the hearing date, and that notice must be personally served on:⁹

Either parent whose address is known. If the address is unknown, serve the nearest known relative living in Nevada.
The child’s legal custodian or guardian, if their address is known.

If the other parent voluntarily appears in court and consents to the hearing, formal service can be skipped.⁹ When the petitioner or child receives public assistance, you must also mail a copy of the notice and petition to the Chief of the Child Support Enforcement Program at the Department of Health and Human Services at least 45 days before the hearing. If a parent cannot be found after a diligent search, NRS 128.070 permits service by publication in a court-designated newspaper for four weeks, with the child’s name replaced by initials.⁵

The Hearing

The hearing is closed. Only the petitioner, attorneys, witnesses, child welfare representatives, and people entitled to notice may attend, and the court file is sealed from public inspection.¹

You carry the burden to prove the case by clear and convincing evidence. Expect the judge to ask directly why you want to give up your rights and how the termination will affect the child. The court gives “full and careful consideration” to your rights and any bonds of blood or affection, but the child’s best interests control.¹ If the judge finds the grounds are met, the court issues a written order terminating the parent-child relationship and placing custody with a qualified person or agency.

What the Order Actually Changes

Once the court signs the termination order, your obligation to pay future child support ends.² Back child support that accrued before the order is typically still owed, because the court treats past-due support as a debt separate from the ongoing relationship.

Inheritance works differently than most people expect. NRS 128.110 preserves the child’s right to inherit from you even after your rights are terminated. The only thing that severs that right is a later adoption of the child by someone else.⁵ So if your rights are terminated and the child is never adopted, your estate could still pass to that child under Nevada’s intestacy laws if you die without a will.

Custody, visitation, and the right to make decisions for the child end on the date of the order.

Treat the Decision as Permanent

Nevada does not give parents a general right to revoke consent after the judge signs the termination order. Undoing it would require a post-judgment motion under the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure based on something like fraud, mistake, or newly discovered evidence. The bar is extremely high and success is rare.

NRS Chapter 128 includes a restoration provision at NRS 128.170, but it requires the natural parent’s consent and generally applies to older children in the child welfare system rather than typical voluntary cases.⁵ Plan around the assumption that this is a one-way door.

If the Child May Be an Indian Child

Different rules apply if the child is or may be an Indian child under federal law. The petition must disclose that possibility,⁷ and the Indian Child Welfare Act imposes stricter consent requirements under 25 U.S.C. § 1913. The consent must be in writing, recorded before a judge, and accompanied by a court certification that the judge fully explained the terms and consequences and that the parent understood, in English or through an interpreter. Consent given before the child is born or within ten days after birth is not valid, and a parent may withdraw consent for any reason at any time before the final decree, with the child returned.¹⁰ If ICWA may apply to your case, consult an attorney familiar with it before signing anything.

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 128.090 – Hearing Time Procedure Evidence Postponement Closed Court Confidentiality
2
State of Nevada Self-Help Center. Overview of Terminating Parental Rights
3
State of Nevada Self-Help Center. Adoption and Termination of Parental Rights Forms
4
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 128.105 – Grounds for Terminating Parental Rights Considerations Required Findings
5
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 128 – Termination of Parental Rights
6
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 128.040 – Who May File Petition Investigation
7
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 128.050 – Entitlement of Proceedings Contents of Verified Petition
8
State of Nevada Self-Help Center. File the Termination of Parental Rights Papers
9
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 128.060 – Notice of Hearing Contents Personal Service
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1913 – Parental Rights Voluntary Termination