88R4796 AMF-F
By: Cook H.B. No. 3379
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to orders for the conservatorship of, possession of or
access to, or support of a child in a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 153.001(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The public policy of this state is to:
(1) assure that children will have frequent and
continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in
the best interest of the child;
(2) provide a safe, stable, and nonviolent environment
for the child; [and]
(3) encourage parents to share equally in the rights
and duties of raising their child after the parents have separated
or dissolved their marriage; and
(4) if parents reside in reasonable proximity to each
other, allocate rights of equal or nearly equal periods of physical
possession of and access to the child.
SECTION 2. Section 153.002, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 153.002. BEST INTEREST OF CHILD. (a) The best
interest of the child shall always be the primary consideration of
the court in determining the issues of conservatorship and
possession of and access to the child.
(b) In determining the best interest of the child, in
addition to any other factors the court is required to consider
under this chapter or other law, the court shall consider the
following factors:
(1) the child's wishes as to conservatorship,
possession, or access;
(2) the child's current and future emotional and
physical needs;
(3) any current or future emotional or physical danger
to the child;
(4) the parenting abilities of the party seeking
conservatorship or possession of or access to the child;
(5) the programs available to assist the party seeking
conservatorship or possession of or access to the child;
(6) the plans for the child of any person seeking
conservatorship or possession of or access to the child;
(7) the stability of any proposed placement;
(8) any act or omission by a parent seeking
conservatorship or possession of or access to the child that may
indicate the parent does not act in the best interest of the child;
(9) any explanation for the parent's act or omission
described by Subdivision (8); and
(10) any other factor the court considers relevant to
the determination.
SECTION 3. Section 153.007(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) To promote the amicable settlement of disputes between
the parties to a suit, the parties may enter into a written agreed
parenting plan containing provisions for conservatorship and
possession of the child and for modification of the parenting plan,
including variations from the equal parenting order under
Subchapter F-1 or the standard possession order under Subchapter F.
SECTION 4. Section 153.134, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter and
except as otherwise provided by this subsection, if the court
renders an order appointing the parents as joint managing
conservators under this section and the parents reside 20 miles or
less apart, the court shall render an equal parenting order under
Subchapter F-1 providing for equal or nearly equal periods of
physical possession of the child, unless the court determines and
enters a finding of fact on the record specifying that equal or
nearly equal periods of physical possession are not in the best
interest of the child, in which case the court may enter:
(1) a standard possession order as provided by
Subchapter F, including an expanded standard possession order under
Section 153.3171, if applicable; or
(2) if the court finds that the standard possession
order is not in the best interest of the child, another order for
possession of the child that the court determines is in the best
interest of the child.
SECTION 5. Section 153.251(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The guidelines established in the standard possession
order are intended to guide the courts in ordering the terms and
conditions for possession of a child by a parent named as a
possessory conservator, or as the minimum possession for a joint
managing conservator if the court does not render an equal
parenting order under Subchapter F-1.
SECTION 6. Section 153.252, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 153.252. REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), in [In] a suit, there is a rebuttable
presumption that the standard possession order in Subchapter F:
(1) provides reasonable minimum possession of a child
for a parent named as a possessory conservator or joint managing
conservator; and
(2) is in the best interest of the child.
(b) If the court renders an order appointing the parents as
joint managing conservators and the parents reside 20 miles or less
apart, there is a rebuttable presumption that the equal parenting
order under Subchapter F-1 is in the best interest of the child. If
the court finds that the equal parenting order under Subchapter F-1
is not in the best interest of the child, the presumption provided
by Subsection (a) applies.
SECTION 7. Chapter 153, Family Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F-1. EQUAL PARENTING ORDER FOR JOINT MANAGING
CONSERVATORS WHO RESIDE 20 MILES OR LESS APART
Sec. 153.351. AUTHORITY TO RENDER EQUAL PARENTING ORDER.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a court shall
enter an equal parenting order under this subchapter providing for
equal or nearly equal periods of possession of a child in accordance
with this subchapter if the court:
(1) appoints the parents as joint managing
conservators under Section 153.134;
(2) determines the parents reside 20 miles or less
apart; and
(3) determines that the order would be in the best
interest of the child.
Sec. 153.352. DESIGNATION OF CONSERVATORS UNDER EQUAL
PARENTING ORDER. For purposes of this subchapter, the court shall
designate the joint managing conservator with the exclusive right
to designate the child's primary residence as "conservator A" and
the other joint managing conservator as "conservator B."
Sec. 153.353. REFERENCE TO "SCHOOL" IN EQUAL PARENTING
ORDER. (a) In an equal parenting order, "school" means the
elementary or secondary school in which the child is enrolled or, if
the child is not enrolled in an elementary or secondary school, the
public school district in which the child primarily resides.
(b) In this subchapter, if a period of possession in an
equal parenting order begins or ends at the time the child's school
regularly resumes, and the child is not attending school on that
day, the period of possession shall begin or end at 8:00 a.m.
Sec. 153.354. MUTUAL AGREEMENT OR SPECIFIED TERMS FOR
POSSESSION. The court shall specify in an equal parenting order
that the parties may have possession of the child at times mutually
agreed to in advance by the parties and, in the absence of mutual
agreement, shall have possession of the child under the specified
terms set out in the equal parenting order.
Sec. 153.355. POSSESSION SCHEDULE UNDER EQUAL PARENTING
ORDER. Unless an alternative possession schedule is ordered under
Section 153.356, in an equal parenting order:
(1) conservator B shall have the right to possession
of the child as follows:
(A) on weekends throughout the year beginning at
the time school regularly resumes on the first and third Friday of
each month and ending at the time school regularly resumes on the
following Monday; and
(B) on Wednesdays and Thursdays of each week
beginning at the time school regularly resumes on Wednesday and
ending at the time school regularly resumes on Friday;
(2) conservator A shall have the right to possession
of the child as follows:
(A) on weekends throughout the year beginning at
the time school regularly resumes on the second and fourth Friday of
each month and ending at the time school regularly resumes on the
following Monday; and
(B) on Mondays and Tuesdays of each week
beginning at the time school regularly resumes on Monday and ending
at the time school regularly resumes on Wednesday; and
(3) for weekends that begin at the time school
regularly resumes on the fifth Friday of a month and end at the time
school regularly resumes on the following Monday, the conservators
shall alternate weekends of possession throughout the year on a
schedule that begins as follows:
(A) conservator B shall have the right to
possession of the child on the first such weekend of the year in
even-numbered years; and
(B) conservator A shall have the right to
possession of the child on the first such weekend of the year in
odd-numbered years.
Sec. 153.356. ALTERNATIVE SCHEDULE UNDER EQUAL PARENTING
ORDER. (a) As an alternative to the possession schedule under
Section 153.355, the court in an equal parenting order may
designate an alternative possession schedule as provided in this
section.
(b) Under an alternative possession schedule:
(1) conservator B shall have the right to possession
of the child beginning at the time school regularly resumes on the
first and third Friday of each month and ending at the time school
regularly resumes on the following Friday;
(2) conservator A shall have the right to possession
of the child beginning at the time school regularly resumes on the
second and fourth Friday of each month and ending at the time school
regularly resumes on the following Friday; and
(3) for weeks that begin at the time school regularly
resumes on the fifth Friday of a month and end at the time school
regularly resumes on the following Friday, the conservators shall
alternate weeks of possession throughout the year on a schedule
that begins as follows:
(A) conservator B shall have the right to
possession of the child on the first such week of the year in
even-numbered years; and
(B) conservator A shall have the right to
possession of the child on the first such week of the year in
odd-numbered years.
Sec. 153.357. VACATION AND HOLIDAY POSSESSION SCHEDULE
UNDER EQUAL PARENTING ORDER. (a) This section governs possession
of the child for certain vacations and holidays and supersedes the
periods of possession described by Section 153.355 or 153.356.
(b) Under an equal parenting order:
(1) conservator B shall have possession of the child
in even-numbered years beginning at the time the child's school
resumes on the day the child is dismissed from school for the
school's spring vacation and ending at the time the child's school
resumes after that vacation;
(2) conservator A shall have possession of the child
in odd-numbered years beginning at the time the child's school
resumes on the day the child is dismissed from school for the
school's spring vacation and ending at the time the child's school
resumes after that vacation;
(3) the conservators shall alternate 14-day periods of
possession for eight weeks during the period the child's school is
dismissed for summer vacation, regardless of whether the child
participates in summer school, on a schedule that begins as
follows:
(A) in even-numbered years, conservator B shall
have the right to possession of the child:
(i) beginning when school regularly resumes
the day school is dismissed for summer vacation if school is
dismissed for summer vacation on a Friday, otherwise at 8:00 a.m.
the first Friday of the period the child's school is dismissed for
summer vacation; and
(ii) ending at 8 a.m. the second Friday
after the period of possession begins; and
(B) in odd-numbered years, conservator A shall
have the right to possession of the child:
(i) beginning when school regularly resumes
the day school is dismissed for summer vacation if school is
dismissed for summer vacation on a Friday, otherwise at 8:00 a.m.
the first Friday of the period the child's school is dismissed for
summer vacation; and
(ii) ending at 8 a.m. the second Friday
after the period of possession begins; and
(4) the conservators shall have rights of possession
of the child during holiday periods as follows:
(A) conservator B shall have possession of the
child in even-numbered years beginning at 4 p.m. on the day the
child is dismissed from school for the Christmas school vacation
and ending at noon on December 28, and conservator A shall have
possession for the same period in odd-numbered years;
(B) conservator B shall have possession of the
child in odd-numbered years beginning at noon on December 28 and
ending at 4 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that
vacation, and conservator A shall have possession for the same
period in even-numbered years;
(C) conservator B shall have possession of the
child in odd-numbered years beginning at 4 p.m. on the day the child
is dismissed from school before Thanksgiving and ending at 4 p.m. on
the following Sunday, and conservator A shall have possession for
the same period in even-numbered years;
(D) the parent not otherwise entitled under this
equal order to present possession of a child on the child's birthday
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 that same place;
(E) 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 equal parenting 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
(F) 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 equal parenting 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 8. Section 154.122, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) An order for child support rendered for a child who is
the subject of an equal parenting order under Subchapter F-1,
Chapter 153, is presumed to be reasonable and in the best interest
of the child if the order for child support conforms to Section
154.1265.
SECTION 9. Subchapter C, Chapter 154, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 154.1265 to read as follows:
Sec. 154.1265. APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES FOR CHILD SUBJECT
TO EQUAL PARENTING ORDER. (a) In ordering child support for a
child who is the subject of an equal parenting order under
Subchapter F-1, Chapter 153, the court shall determine the amount
of the child support obligation as provided by this section.
(b) The court shall first apply the child support guidelines
with respect to each parent without regard to the other and then
subtract the amount of child support determined under the
guidelines for the parent who would be obligated to pay the lesser
of the two amounts from the amount of child support determined for
the parent who would be obligated to pay the greater amount. The
net amount is presumed to be a reasonable amount of child support.
(c) The court shall render an order requiring the parent
determined under Subsection (b) to owe the greater amount to pay as
periodic child support the net amount to the other parent.
(d) A child support order conforming to the requirements of
this section is presumed to be in the best interest of the child.
SECTION 10. The enactment of this Act does not constitute a
material and substantial change of circumstances sufficient to
warrant modification of a court order or portion of a decree that
provides for the possession of or access to a child rendered before
the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is pending in a
trial court on the effective date of this Act or that is filed on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.