Temporary Parental Consent Agreements

Parents are people, and people make mistakes. Sometimes, major problems arise in a parent’s life that cause the parent to make poor decisions. Some of these decisions include drug abuse and neglect of the parent’s child. Although the parent might deeply care about their child, the parent might temporarily be “unfit” to care for their child. After recognizing the situation that the parent is in, a third-party might want to care for the child temporarily, in order to give the parent some time to get their life together. However, the third-party, might not want to seek a final court order because they want to maintain their relationship with the parent, and are afraid that a formal court action might strain this relationship. A good solution to this problem is a Temporary Parental Consent Agreement.

A Temporary Parental Consent Agreement may give you authority to (1) make medical decisions and educational decisions for the child; and (2) get care and services for them.

Temporary Parental Consent Agreements work best with parties who are in agreement. Both parties must honor the agreement because a Temporary Parental Consent Form is not a court order, and the parent may rescind it at any time. Equally important, these agreements work best if the third-party agrees to care for the child no longer than one year. If the third-party plans to care for the child longer than a year, then it is best to file a non-parental custody case. In addition, these agreements work best when third-party agencies are prepared to recognize them. For example, some schools, doctors, insurance companies, or government agencies may not honor a Temporary Parental Consent Agreement. Therefore, before seeking a Temporary Parental Consent Agreement, the third-party should contact these agencies to find out whether the agreement will be enforced. If third-parties are prepared to recognize the agreement, then a Temporary Parental Consent Agreement is a great alternative to seeking non-parental custody order. However, as stated earlier, these agreements are only effective if both parties understand and honor the agreement. Therefore, before seeking a Temporary Parental Consent Agreement, the third-party should evaluate whether the parent is likely to honor it. If the parent is prepared to honor the agreement, then a Temporary Parental Consent Agreement can come with many benefits such as preserving family relationships.