Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:7

  • Child: or "minor" means a person less than 18 years of age. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • Court: means the probate court. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Guardian ad litem: means a person appointed by the court to protect the interest of a minor or an incompetent in a case before the court. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • Legal custody: means a status created by court order, embodying the following rights and responsibilities:
    (a) The right to have the physical possession of the child;
    (b) The right and the duty to protect, train and discipline the child; and
    (c) The responsibility to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, education and ordinary medical care, provided that such rights and responsibilities shall be exercised subject to the powers, rights, duties and responsibilities of the guardian of the person and subject to residual parental rights and responsibilities if these have not been terminated by judicial decree. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • minor: means a person less than 18 years of age. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • Parent: means (a) the mother, (b) a father as to whom a child is legitimate, (c) a person as to whom a child is presumed to be a legitimate child, (d) an alleged father who is living with the mother and child or who has complied with the provisions of N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • Parties: includes the child, the petitioners, and the child's parents. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-C:2
  • person: may extend and be applied to bodies corporate and politic as well as to individuals. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:9
  • petition: when used in connection with the equity jurisdiction of the superior court, and referring to a document filed with the court, shall mean complaint, and "petitioner" shall mean plaintiff. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:51
  • petitioner: shall mean plaintiff. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:51
After a petition has been filed, the court shall set the time and place for a hearing and shall give notice thereof to the petitioner who shall cause notice to be given to the parents of the child, the guardian of the person of the child, the person having legal custody of the child, any individual standing in loco parentis to the child, and the guardian ad litem of any party. Where the child’s parent is a minor, notice shall also be given to said minor’s parents or guardian of the person unless the court is satisfied, in the exercise of its discretion, that such notice is not in the best interest of said minor and that it would serve no useful purpose. Notice shall be given by personal service to the parent whose parental rights may be terminated pursuant to the petition that has been filed. Where it shall appear impractical to personally serve said parent, the court shall order service by certified mail to the parent’s last known address or publication once a week for 2 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where that person was last domiciled or both. All other parties shall be given notice by regular mail at their last known address. The hearing shall take place no sooner than 20 days after service of notice, except that if notice is by publication the hearing shall take place no sooner than 7 days after the last date of publication.