Embodiments of the invention are used to provide a system and method for tearing down and reclaiming an IP address from a multi-IP stack device based on configurable timer parameters that provide a network operator with independent control over each protocol-specific IP network layer session. Dedicated idle and session timers for each IP network layer session are implemented at the network layer of various network nodes in order to independently tear down IPv4 and IPv6 network sessions while maintaining the underlying link layer connection. In embodiments, the IP protocol-specific idle and session timers are processed by the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) or the Home Agent (HA). To achieve user session level control of IP protocol-specific network layer sessions, embodiments of the invention provide for storing the network layer idle and session timer attributes at the Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server prior to passing such attributes to the PDSN or the HA for processing during the dual-stack communication session.