Custodia

If your parental rights were involuntarily terminated, you may be able to file in court to get back (reinstate) your parental rights if all of the following are true:

1. The termination of parental rights resulted from a court case filed by the Department of Family and Protective Services;
2. At least two years have passed since your parental rights were terminated;
3. There is no appeal of that termination order currently pending in the appellate court;
4. The child has not been adopted;
5. The child is not the subject of an adoption placement agreement; and
6. At least 45 days before you filed the petition to reinstate your rights, you notified the Department of Family and Protective Services that you planned to file the petition.¹ 

A hearing will take place within 60 days. At the hearing, even if the judge believes that it’s in the child’s best interests to reinstate your parental rights, if the child is 12 or older, the child must consent to the reinstatement and express a desire to live with you. If the child is 11 or younger on the date the petition is filed, the judge will consider the child’s age, maturity, and ability to express a preference. If the judge believes it’s appropriate for the child to tell his/her preference, this will only be one factor that the judge would consider, along with all other relevant factors.²

Note: The following people or agencies have the legal right to file the petition on your behalf to reinstate your parental rights: 

• the Department of Family and Protective Services;
• the agency that has responsibility for the child; or
• the attorney ad litem for the child.³

¹ Tex. Fam. Code § 161.302(b), (d)
​​² Tex. Fam. Code § 161.303(a), (c)(1), (c)(4), (d)
³ Tex. Fam. Code § 161.302(a)