85R2131 KJE-F
By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 1491
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the possession of a child on the child's birthday under
a standard possession order in a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 153.314, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 153.314. HOLIDAY POSSESSION UNAFFECTED BY DISTANCE
PARENTS RESIDE APART. The following provisions govern possession
of the child for certain specific holidays and supersede
conflicting weekend or Thursday periods of possession without
regard to the distance the parents reside apart. The possessory
conservator and the managing conservator shall have rights of
possession of the child as follows:
(1) the possessory conservator shall have possession
of the child in even-numbered years beginning at 6 p.m. on the day
the child is dismissed from school for the Christmas school
vacation and ending at noon on December 28, and the managing
conservator shall have possession for the same period in
odd-numbered years;
(2) the possessory conservator shall have possession
of the child in odd-numbered years beginning at noon on December 28
and ending at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that
vacation, and the managing conservator shall have possession for
the same period in even-numbered years;
(3) the possessory conservator shall have possession
of the child in odd-numbered years, beginning at 6 p.m. on the day
the child is dismissed from school before Thanksgiving and ending
at 6 p.m. on the following Sunday, and the managing conservator
shall have possession for the same period in even-numbered years;
(4) if a [the] parent is not otherwise entitled under
this standard possession order to any period of [present]
possession of a child on the child's birthday, that parent shall
have possession of the child beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 8
p.m. on that day, provided that the parent picks up the child from
[the residence of the conservator entitled to possession] and
returns the child to the residence of the conservator entitled to
possession [that same place];
(5) if a conservator, the father shall have possession
of the child beginning at 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding Father's
Day and ending on Father's Day at 6 p.m., provided that, if he is not
otherwise entitled under this standard possession order to present
possession of the child, he picks up the child from the residence of
the conservator entitled to possession and returns the child to
that same place; and
(6) if a conservator, the mother shall have possession
of the child beginning at 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding Mother's
Day and ending on Mother's Day at 6 p.m., provided that, if she is
not otherwise entitled under this standard possession order to
present possession of the child, she picks up the child from the
residence of the conservator entitled to possession and returns the
child to that same place.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section
153.314, Family Code, applies only to a court order providing for
possession of or access to a child rendered on or after the
effective date of this Act. A court order rendered before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the order was rendered, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.