Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

The only way you can initiate a petition to terminate your own parental rights is to file a petition for relief of custody in the appropriate juvenile and domestic relations district court. According to a decision of the Virginia Court of Appeals, you may ONLY file such a petition if you are the custodial parent; if you are a noncustodial parent, the court cannot grant your petition. If you parental rights are terminated, your duty of support is extinguished. However, courts are reluctant to extinguish parental rights and the duty of support except in extraordinary situations.