In some cases, an individual may lose his or her custodial rights during a divorce because a court has deemed his or her parenting abilities to be subpar to those of a spouse. Of course, an agreement could have been made to award sole custody to one parent as well. But what if both parents have been found to be neglectful of their child?

Two parents in Ohio recently found out. According to reports, a 37-year-old mother and 40-year-old father each pleaded guilty to one count of attempted involuntary manslaughter. They had been accused of the crime after the coroner determined the death of the couple's son to be a homicide. When the 8-year-old boy passed away during March 2008, he had pneumonia and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Before the death of their son though, the parents had been charged in another county with failing to educate all six of their children. They moved to Cleveland shortly after.

Medical neglect was considered a cause of death in the child in part because his parents had allegedly taken a newly owned pit bull to be treated for fleas, but had not taken the child to seek medical attention for his cancer. Upon their arrest, the couple lost custody of all five of their other children.

Both parents face up to eight years in prison after pleading guilty. They are currently free on $150,000 bail and have been so since April 2009. Their sentencing will occur sometime next month.

After the parents serve their sentence, they will need to work to prove that they are capable parents who have learned from their mistakes. Working with an experienced family law attorney can be the first step in figuring out how to regain custody of their children.

Source: Reuters, "Ohio parents plead guilty to neglect in son's cancer death," Kim Palmer, Jan. 9, 2012