The law gives a chance to parents who have changed their attitude to parental responsibilities to restore lost parental rights. This can be implemented under certain conditions:

  • If the child is under 18 years old.
  • If the child has not been adopted, unless a decision has been made to cancel the adoption or to declare it invalid.
  • A person’s behavior must change in comparison with the behavior that caused the deprivation of parental rights.
  • The circumstances that led to the deprivation of parental rights must change significantly.

The law imposes some restrictions on this procedure. First of all, you can renew your rights only through the court and in case of refusal based on the results of the case, you can re-apply only after a year. The existence of such risks suggests that recourse to lawyers with considerable experience in the field of family law is mandatory. Only parents can apply to the court in person, as the court will check for significant changes in their behavior, and adoptive parents can renew the rights of adopted children. Other individuals and legal entities, including parents’ representatives, are deprived of this right. However, the guardianship authority will still take part in this process, as it will submit to the court the conclusion of the examination of the living conditions of the parents and the child. Another important point is that the court cannot decide on the restoration of rights without taking into account the opinion of the other parent or those with whom the child actually lives. There are also cases in court practice when the court, in the opinion of the child, refused to restore parental rights. At the same time, the case law shows that only the opinion of a child who can express it can be taken into account. On the other hand, there is the case law of the Supreme Court, which says that a child’s unwillingness to be with his/her mother is not a ground for deprivation of parental rights. Therefore, it is important to remember that the court will always be in the best interests of the child, and the lawyer will have to prove the importance of restoring the rights for the best interests of the child, even if he or she does not want to.

Restoration of parental rights in Ukraine

In fact, the law does not establish any differences in the regulation of the procedure for the restoration of parental rights for the mother and the father. Otherwise, it would violate the equality of women’s and men’s rights. However, in practice, such lawsuits are most often filed by men. With regard to mothers, it can be noted that cases involving them have a higher chance of success for up to two reasons. First, the case law, including the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in determining the child’s place of residence, emphasizes the importance of the mother for the child’s development, referring to the greater connection with the child and the child’s physiological needs.

Restoration of parental rights in Ukraine

For men, this process is a bit more complicated in our country. Too often, the bond between child and parent is lost and the child does not feel a strong need for a parent. In addition, often the main argument for the restoration of parental rights is the material side, but the mass allocation of alimony to men removes this issue. However, there is always a way out, and the father always has enough time to change the situation or behavior so that there are grounds to restore the lost parental rights. In any case, the law does not prohibit seeing the child, in addition, the parent is obliged to maintain it, which can already be a significant contribution to correcting the situation. However, the restoration process is in most cases a long process and requires patience.

Restoration of parental rights in Lviv

To restore lost parental rights in Lviv, you need to apply to the court of the district in which you live.