81R12309 JSC-D
By: Aycock H.B. No. 3018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to standing to file a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 102.003(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) An original suit may be filed at any time by:
(1) a parent of the child;
(2) the child through a representative authorized by
the court;
(3) a custodian or person having the right of
visitation with or access to the child appointed by an order of a
court of another state or country;
(4) a guardian of the person or of the estate of the
child;
(5) a governmental entity;
(6) an authorized agency;
(7) a licensed child placing agency;
(8) a man alleging himself to be the father of a child
filing in accordance with Chapter 160, subject to the limitations
of that chapter, but not otherwise;
(9) a person, other than a foster parent, who has had
actual care, control, and possession of the child for at least six
months ending not more than 90 days preceding the date of the filing
of the petition;
(10) a person designated as the managing conservator
in a revoked or unrevoked affidavit of relinquishment under Chapter
161 or to whom consent to adoption has been given in writing under
Chapter 162;
(11) a spouse of the child's guardian, managing
conservator, or parent who resided [person] with [whom] the child
and the child's guardian, managing conservator, or parent [have
resided] for at least six months ending not more than 90 days
preceding the date of the filing of the petition if the [child's]
guardian, managing conservator, or parent with whom the child and
spouse resided is deceased at the time of the filing of the
petition;
(12) a person who is the foster parent of a child
placed by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in
the person's home for at least 12 months ending not more than 90
days preceding the date of the filing of the petition;
(13) a person who is a relative of the child within the
third degree by consanguinity, as determined by Chapter 573,
Government Code, if the child's parents are deceased at the time of
the filing of the petition; or
(14) a person who has been named as a prospective
adoptive parent of a child by a pregnant woman or the parent of the
child, in a verified written statement to confer standing executed
under Section 102.0035, regardless of whether the child has been
born.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed on or after
the effective date of this Act. A suit filed before that date is
governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.