Bill Text: TX HB555 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled

---

Bill Title: Relating to certain rights of the sole managing conservator of a child in relation to the child's passport.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-10 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB555 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB555-Enrolled.html

---

H.B. No. 555

AN ACT
relating to certain rights of the sole managing conservator of a
child in relation to the child's passport.
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 the services and earnings of the
child; [and]
(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
(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;
[and]
(11) 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
(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 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, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 555 was passed by the House on May 3,
2019, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 2, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 555 was passed by the Senate on May
22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor