Bill Text: TX SB1178 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to the rights and duties of parents and the protection of parental rights in suits affecting the parent-child relationship.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-04-28 - Not again placed on intent calendar [SB1178 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB1178-Comm_Sub.html
By: Birdwell | S.B. No. 1178 | |
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2021; March 18, 2021, read | ||
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; | ||
April 21, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee | ||
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 2; April 21, 2021, | ||
sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1178 | By: Birdwell |
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relating to the rights and duties of parents and the protection of | ||
parental rights in suits affecting the parent-child relationship. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 151.001(a), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) In addition to the rights and duties described by | ||
Section 151.004, a [ |
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and duties: | ||
(1) the right to have physical possession[ |
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of the child; | ||
(2) the duty of care, control, protection, and | ||
reasonable discipline of the child; | ||
(3) the duty to support the child, including providing | ||
the child with clothing, food, shelter, medical and dental care, | ||
and education; | ||
(4) the duty, except when a guardian of the child's | ||
estate has been appointed, to manage the estate of the child, | ||
including the right as an agent of the child to act in relation to | ||
the child's estate if the child's action is required by a state, the | ||
United States, or a foreign government; | ||
(5) except as provided by Section 264.0111, the right | ||
to the services and earnings of the child; | ||
(6) the right to consent to the child's marriage, | ||
enlistment in the armed forces of the United States, medical and | ||
dental care, and psychiatric, psychological, and surgical | ||
treatment; | ||
(7) the right to represent the child in legal action | ||
and to make other decisions of substantial legal significance | ||
concerning the child; | ||
(8) 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; | ||
(9) the right to inherit from and through the child; | ||
and | ||
(10) [ |
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parent and child by virtue of law. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 151, Family Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 151.004 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 151.004. PRESUMPTION OF PARENTAL FITNESS; FUNDAMENTAL | ||
RIGHT OF PARENTS TO RAISE CHILDREN. (a) In a suit, there is a | ||
presumption that a parent is a fit parent who acts in the best | ||
interest of the parent's child. | ||
(b) The fundamental right of a parent to raise the parent's | ||
child includes the right to direct and make decisions for the | ||
child's care, custody, control, education, upbringing, moral and | ||
religious training, and medical care. | ||
(c) In a suit between a parent and a nonparent, a court may | ||
not grant any relief that conflicts with a parent's decisions or | ||
proposed decisions for the child unless the court finds that: | ||
(1) the requested relief is necessary to prevent a | ||
significant impairment of the child's physical health or emotional | ||
well-being; or | ||
(2) in the most recent final order rendered regarding | ||
the child in a previous suit to which the parent was a party, the | ||
parent: | ||
(A) either: | ||
(i) was given an opportunity to be heard and | ||
present evidence; or | ||
(ii) entered into a written agreement that | ||
did not name the parent as the sole managing conservator or a joint | ||
managing conservator of the child; | ||
(B) was not appointed as the sole managing | ||
conservator or a joint managing conservator of the child; and | ||
(C) had adequate notice of the final hearing as | ||
required by law. | ||
(d) This section may not be construed to limit the rights of | ||
the state to investigate or act on a report of child abuse or | ||
neglect allegedly committed by a person responsible for a child's | ||
care, custody, or welfare, beyond the limitations required by the | ||
United States Constitution and the Texas Constitution. | ||
(e) This section does not apply to an order to enforce child | ||
support. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2021. | ||
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