Parent-Child Relationship

Question 1

Child or Minor

Answer 1

a person under 18 who is not and has not been married or has not had his disability of minority removed

A person at least 16 years of age can petition district court to remove the disability of his minority and the court will grant the petition if it is in the child’s interest

to have the disability removed, the minor must be self-supporting and managing her own financial affairs and must be living separate and apart from parents

Question 2

Parent

Answer 2

means the mother, a man presumed or adjudicated to be the father, or an adoptive mother or father

Question 3

Mother-child Relationship

Answer 3

Established by: 1) the woman giving birth to the child, 2) an adjudication of the woman’s maternity, 3) adoption of the child

Question 4

Father-Child Relationship

Answer 4

Established by: 1) Ann unrequited presumption of the man’s paternity, 2) an acknowledgment of paternity, 3) an adjudication of paternity, 4) adoption of the child, or 5) the man’s consenting to assisted reproduction by his wife, which resulted in birth of child

Question 5

*Presumption of Paternity

Answer 5

A man is presumed to be the father if:

1) the child is born during the marriage of the man and child’s mother or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, divorce, or annulment
2) the man married (or attempted to marry) the child’s mother after the child’s birth and he voluntarily asserted his paternity by filing a record with the vital statistics unit being named on the child’s birth certificate, or promising in a record to support the child as his own
3) during the first two years of the Child’s life, the man resided in the household with the child and represented to others that the child was his child

Question 6

*Challenge to Rebut Presumption of Paternity

Answer 6

-Generally, must be brought within 4 years of the Child’s birth

Presumed father paternity can be disproved in two ways:

1) by genetic test results (99% probability or higher = father)
2) by a written denial of paternity in conjunction with the written acknowledgment of paternity by another man

Question 7

Rights of father if other is not married

Answer 7

The father of a non marital child is entitled to service of process in any SAPCR and can be adjudicated the child’s parents in a paternity suit

Question 8

Rights and Duties of Parents

Answer 8

Right of custody; duty of care of upbringing; duty to support; duty to manage the child’s estate; right to consent to medical treatment; right to represent the child in a legal action; right to inherit from and through the child; and right to use corporal punishment for reasonable discipline

Unless paternal rights have been terminated

Question 9

Parental liability

Answer 9

A parent is liable for property damage caused by a child’s negligent conduct if reasonably attributable to negligent failure to exercise parental control or discipline

Question 10

Guardian Ad Litem or Attorney ad Litem

Answer 10

Appointment is in the court’s discretion

A guardian MUST be appointed for the child in suits to terminate the parent-child relationship or to remove the disability of a minor

Question 11

Jury verdict

Answer 11

Either party is entitled to a jury trial

Can decide:

(i) appointment of sole managing conservator or joint managing conservator
(ii) which joint managing conservator has exclusive right to determine’s child’s primary residence
(iii) whether to impose a geographic restriction on the area in which the joint managing conservator may designate the child’s primary residence
(iv) what the geographic area may be

Jury cannot decide on 1) support, 2) the specific terms of visitation, 3) the rights and duties of a joint managing conservator

Question 12

Parenting Plan Required

Answer 12

When final order in a SAPCR is tied to a dissolution of a marriage

Question 13

Agreed Parenting Plan

Answer 13

When parents agree to: the rights and duties of each parents in regards to the child, possession of the child, support of the child, and all other related issues

If the court finds that the agreed parenting plan is IN THE CHILD’S BEST INTEREST, the order will incorporate the terms of the plan

If rejected by the court, the court can come up with its own plan that would be in the child’s best interest or require the parents to submit an revised plan

Question 14

Parenting Coordinator and Parenting Facilitator

Answer 14

Court can order a 3P to act in these roles if case likely to be high conflict or it would be in the child’s best interest to appoint one

Question 15

Rights of a Parents that is a Conservator

Answer 15

Has the right of access to the child’s medical, dental, physiological, and educational records; the right to consult with school official and to attend school activities, the right to be the emergency contact, the right to manage the child’s estate

Question 16

Rights and Power Exclusive to Sole Managing Conservator

Answer 16

Will have the exclusive right to: designate the child’s primary residence; the right to child’s services and earning; the right to make decisions about the child’s education; the right to consent o child’s marriage; the right to consent to medical or dental treatment; the right to child support and disburse for the child’s benefit; and the right to represent he child in legal action and make other legal decisions concerning the child

Question 17

During period of possession

Answer 17

The conservator parent has the right to direct the child’s moral and religious training; the duty of care, control, and reasonable discipline, the duty to support the child; the duty to provide medical and dental care; and the power to consent to medical,, dental, and surgical treatment during an emergency

Question 18

Rights, Duties, and power of non parent managing conservator

Answer 18

Will have all the same duties as a parent conservator except the duty to manage the child’s estate and the duty to provide medical care

Question 19

*Strong Preference for Appointment of Parent

Answer 19

Absent special circumstances the court must appoint a parent as either a Sole managing conservator or as joint managing conservators

Neither party can be disfavor because of gender or marital status, but court can take into account previous abuse, or whether child will be adversely effected

Question 20

*Best Interest Test

Answer 20

The best interest of the child is the primary consideration of the court in determining questions of managing conservatorship, possession, and support of and acmes to the child

Question 21

Parents can Agree who will be the Sole Managing Conservator

Answer 21

Will be appointed by the court unless they find it is not in the best interest of the child

Question 22

Strong Preference against Split Custody

Answer 22

If two or more children from the same parents, they should not be split up unless there is a clear and compelling reason

Question 23

*Child 12 or older right to choose

Answer 23

A child 12 or older has the right to choose the person who is to have the exclusive right to designate the child’s residence, subject to a judicial veto

Question 24

Death of Managing Conservator

Answer 24

The death of the MC termites the court’s conservatorship order, but does not terminate the SAPCR court continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the child

Question 25

*Grandparents may petition for reasonable access

Answer 25

Grandparent shave an independent cause of action to obtain and enforce their rights under SAPCR if at least one biological or adoptive parent’s rights have not been terminated and the parent who who is a child of the grandparent is:

1) dead
2) incapacitated
3) has been jailed for at least 3 months
4) does not have actual or court-ordered possession of or access to the child

Order only needed if parent has denied grand parent access

The Grandparent must also prove by a preponderance of the evidence either that the parent is unfit or that denial of possession or access would significantly impair the child’s physical or emotional well-being

Right does not apply if the child has been adopted by a new family

Question 26

*Siblings may petition for reasonable possession or access

Answer 26

the siblings of a child may file suit requesting access to the child if the sibling is at least 18

If siblings separated by TDFPS a sibling under 18 can request access

Court will grant if in the best interest of the child

Question 27

• Can court require a party to submit to genetic testing?

Answer 27

upon institution of a paternity suit, an alleged father may be ordered to submit to genetic testing.

the Family Code provides that an
alleged father refusing to submit to genetic testing can be held in contempt.

An even more crucial consequence of refusing to submit to genetic testing is a default judgment rendering the alleged father to be deemed the father of the child the subject of the suit.