How to Respond to a Termination of Parental Rights Case

Ignoring the papers will not make the case go away. In fact, if you do not respond to the papers and/or attend the court hearing, the other parent may be able to terminate your rights without your say. This page will explain the steps you need to take to respond to a petition to terminate your rights.

1. Read the Papers
2. Fill Out an Answer
3. File the Answer
4. Serve the Petitioner
5. Go to the Hearing

1. Read the Papers

Read the papers the other parent filed. Don’t worry, the judge has not ordered anything yet – these papers just tell you what the other parent is asking for and when the court date is set. You should have received the following:

• Petition to Terminate Rights. Read through this document.  You may agree with some, all, or none of the petition. Write down next to each paragraph in the petition whether you agree or disagree with what that paragraph says.
• Notice of Hearing. This tells you when the court date is set for your case.  Plan to go to the hearing.  The judge will expect to see you at the hearing so you can explain whether you agree or disagree with terminating your rights. 

 2. Fill Out an Answer

To respond to the case, you will need to file an "answer."  This tells the judge and the other parent what parts of the petition you agree with and disagree with. For instance, you might agree with paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 of the petition, but disagree with paragraphs 4, 5, 6. Write that in the Answer. This lets the judge and the other parent know what issues will need to be dealt with.

Answer to Petition to Terminate Parental Rights (pdf)

Answer to Petition to Terminate Parental Rights (pdf fillable)  

3. File the Answer

After you fill out the answer, you will need to file it with the family court. The fee to file your response is $223. The fee is payable by cash, money order, or most major credit/debit cards. If you cannot afford the fee, please see Filing Fees and Waivers to find out how to ask the court to waive the fee.

You can file your papers one of these ways:

1. By Mail: Mail your forms and the filing fee (with check or money order made out to Clerk of Court) to:

   Family Courts and Services Center
   Attn: Clerk of Court
   601 North Pecos Road
   Las Vegas, NV 89101

2. Online: You can file online through the court's e-filing system, eFileNV. There is a fee of $3.50 to upload your documents, in addition to the regular filing fee. You must register for an account, you must provide a valid email address, and you must be able to scan and upload your documents.
    
3. In person at the Family Courthouse (check our How to File page for hours and more information).

4. Serve the Answer

After you complete the steps on this page, a copy of your answer must be sent to the Petitioner who filed the case against you. The Court does not serve the papers for you.  It is up to YOU to make sure the Petitioner gets served after you file these papers. 

You must mail the Petitioner a copy of your Answer. You can send it by regular mail. You do not need to send it by certified mail.

If the other person does not have an attorney, send a copy of the answer directly to that person.  If the Petitioner does have an attorney, send a copy of the answer to the attorney. You can find the attorney’s name and address on the upper left corner of your spouse’s documents. 

After serving the documents, you will need to fill out a Certificate of Service. This form tells the court when, where, and how you served the documents. The Certificate of Service must be filed with the court to show that the Petitioner was properly served.

Certificate of Mailing (pdf) 

5. Go to the Hearing

There should be a court date listed on the "Notice of Hearing" that you were served with.  Plan to attend that hearing.  You can learn about what will happen at the hearing on the Termination of Parental Rights Hearing page.