The legal rights of parents, in the United States protected under the Constitution, to have custody and supervision of their own minor children, including making decisions about their medical care. Running alongside these rights are parents’ responsibilities, legal duties to care for minors and some handicapped adult children. Parents can lose these rights under certain circumstances, as in certain cases of abandonment and child abuse and neglect. Legal proceedings to negate parents’ claims on their child are called termination of parental rights (TPR). In some cases, as when a child is judged incorrigible, the parents may voluntarily transfer their rights to the state. In cases of divorce or separation, a noncustodial parent may lose some parental rights when custody of a child is awarded to the other parent, but they generally retain visitation rights.