Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2495 Latest Draft

Bill / House Committee Report Version Filed 04/16/2025

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                            89R2304 PRL-F
 By: Dutton H.B. No. 2495




 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to certain rights of the sole managing conservator of a
 child in relation to the child's enrollment in school.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 153.132, Family Code, is amended to read
 as follows:
 Sec. 153.132.  RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF PARENT APPOINTED SOLE
 MANAGING CONSERVATOR.  Unless limited by court order, a parent
 appointed as sole managing conservator of a child has the rights and
 duties provided by Subchapter B and the following exclusive rights:
 (1)  the right to designate the primary residence of
 the child;
 (2)  the right to consent to medical, dental, and
 surgical treatment involving invasive procedures;
 (3)  the right to consent to psychiatric and
 psychological treatment;
 (4)  the right to receive and give receipt for periodic
 payments for the support of the child and to hold or disburse these
 funds for the benefit of the child;
 (5)  the right to represent the child in legal action
 and to make other decisions of substantial legal significance
 concerning the child;
 (6)  the right to consent to marriage and to enlistment
 in the armed forces of the United States;
 (7)  the right to make decisions concerning the child's
 education;
 (8)  the right to designate the school the child will
 attend and to enroll the child in the school, subject to any
 eligibility or admissions requirements;
 (9)  the right to the services and earnings of the
 child;
 (10) [(9)]  except when a guardian of the child's
 estate or a guardian or attorney ad litem has been appointed for the
 child, the right to act as an agent of the child in relation to the
 child's estate if the child's action is required by a state, the
 United States, or a foreign government; and
 (11) [(10)]  the right to:
 (A)  apply for a passport for the child;
 (B)  renew the child's passport; and
 (C)  maintain possession of the child's passport.
 SECTION 2.  Section 153.371, Family Code, is amended to read
 as follows:
 Sec. 153.371.  RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF NONPARENT APPOINTED AS
 SOLE MANAGING CONSERVATOR.  Unless limited by court order or other
 provisions of this chapter, a nonparent, a licensed child-placing
 agency, or the Department of Family and Protective Services
 appointed as a managing conservator of the child has the following
 rights and duties:
 (1)  the right to have physical possession and to
 direct the moral and religious training of the child;
 (2)  the duty of care, control, protection, and
 reasonable discipline of the child;
 (3)  the duty to provide the child with clothing, food,
 shelter, education, and medical, psychological, and dental care;
 (4)  the right to consent for the child to medical,
 psychiatric, psychological, dental, and surgical treatment and to
 have access to the child's medical records;
 (5)  the right to receive and give receipt for payments
 for the support of the child and to hold or disburse funds for the
 benefit of the child;
 (6)  the right to the services and earnings of the
 child;
 (7)  the right to consent to marriage and to enlistment
 in the armed forces of the United States;
 (8)  the right to represent the child in legal action
 and to make other decisions of substantial legal significance
 concerning the child;
 (9)  except when a guardian of the child's estate or a
 guardian or attorney ad litem has been appointed for the child, the
 right to act as an agent of the child in relation to the child's
 estate if the child's action is required by a state, the United
 States, or a foreign government;
 (10)  the right to designate the primary residence of
 the child and to make decisions regarding the child's education;
 (11)  the right to designate the school the child will
 attend and to enroll the child in the school, subject to any
 eligibility or admissions requirements;
 (12)  if the parent-child relationship has been
 terminated with respect to the parents, or only living parent, or if
 there is no living parent, the right to consent to the adoption of
 the child and to make any other decision concerning the child that a
 parent could make; and
 (13) [(12)]  the right to:
 (A)  apply for a passport for the child;
 (B)  renew the child's passport; and
 (C)  maintain possession of the child's passport.
 SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
 153.132 and 153.371, Family Code, apply only to a suit affecting the
 parent-child relationship that is pending in a trial court on or
 filed on or after the effective date of this Act.
 SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.