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Legal Information: Texas

Custody

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Updated: 
July 28, 2023

Who can get conservatorship (custody)?

It is the public policy of Texas that a child have frequent and continuing contact with his/her parents and have the parents share the rights and responsibilities of raising their child as long as it is in the best interest of the child.1 The law favors granting parents sole or joint managing conservatorship but evidence of family abuse is taken into serious consideration when determining the best interest of a child.2 (See Can a parent who committed violence get “custody” (conservatorship) or “visitation” (access)?) Alternatively, a competent adult, a licensed child-placing agency, or the Department of Family and Protective Services can be appointed sole or joint managing conservator of a child.3

A child’s relative might be granted managing or possessory conservatorship. See Other than a parent, who else can file for managing or possessory conservatorship (custody)? for more information.

Note: In determining custody, there should be no discrimination based on sex or marital status.4

1 Tex. Fam. Code § 153.001
2 Tex. Fam. Code § 153.131
3 Tex. Fam. Code §§ 153.005; 153.371; 153.372
4 Tex. Fam. Code. § 153.003

Other than a parent, who else can file for managing or possessory conservatorship (custody)?

The following people can file for managing conservatorship:

  1. a child’s great-grandparent, grandparent, uncle, or aunt can file for managing conservatorship if there is “satisfactory” proof that:
    • it is necessary because the child’s present situation is mentally or physically harmful for the child; or
    • both parents, or the surviving parent, or the managing conservator filed the petition or consented to the suit;1
  2. a custodian or person having the right of visitation with or access to the child who was appointed by a court order of another state or country;
  3. a guardian of the person or of the estate of the child;
  4. any person, other than a foster parent. who has had actual care, control, and possession of the child for at least six months ending not more than 90 days before filing;
  5. anyone who lived with the child and the child’s guardian, managing conservator, or parent for at least six months ending not more than 90 days before filing and the child’s guardian, managing conservator or parent is dead when the person files;
  6. a person who was designated as the managing conservator in a revoked or unrevoked affidavit of relinquishment or to whom consent to adoption has been given in writing;
  7. a foster parent who cared for the child for at least 12 months ending not more than 90 days before filing;
  8. a relative of the child within the third degree by consanguinity if the child’s parents are deceased at the time of the filing of the petition;
  9. a person who was named as a prospective adoptive parent of a child by a pregnant woman or the parent of the child, in a verified written statement to confer standing, regardless of whether the child has been born; or
  10. a person who is an intended parent of a child or unborn child under a gestational agreement, assuming that the person filing is filing jointly with the other intended parent under the gestational agreement or against the other intended parent under the gestational agreement.2

    Note: A grandparent or someone who has had significant past contact with the child cannot file a petition for possessory conservatorship unless there is already an open case involving conservatorship of the child. If there is an open case, the judge can allow the grandparent or other person to ask for possessory conservatorship if the judge finds it is in the best interest of the child.3

    1 Tex. Fam. Code § 102.004
    2 Tex. Fam. Code § 102.003
    3 Tex. Fam. Code § 102.004(b)

    I am the child’s grandparent. Can I get possession of or access to the child (visitation)?

    A grandparent can request possession of or access to his/her grandchild.  Much of the judge’s decision will be based on various factors relating to the grandparent’s child who is the parent of the grandchild in question. The judge should give the grandparent visitation if:

    • the grandparent’s child’s parental rights have not been terminated; 
    • the grandparent proves to the judge that denying visitation would significantly harm the grandchild’s physical or emotional well-being; and
    • the grandparent’s child:
      •   has been incarcerated for at least three months leading up to the grandparent’s visitation request; 
      •   has been found by the court to be incompetent; 
      •   is dead; or
      •   does not have possession of or access to the child.1

    A grandparent cannot request possession of or access to a grandchild if the grandchild has been or is in the process of being adopted by a person other than the child’s stepparent and both of the child’s biological parents:

    • are dead;
    • had their parental rights terminated; or
    • signed an “affidavit of waiver of interest in child” or an “affidavit of relinquishment of parental rights,” which designated the Department of Family and Protective Services, a licensed child-placing agency, or a person other than the child’s stepparent as the managing conservator of the child.2

    1 Tex. Fam. Code § 153.433
    2 Tex. Fam. Code § 153.434

    I am the child's sibling. Can I get access to the child (visitation)?

    A sibling who is at least 18 years old can file a petition for access to a minor child. However, if the siblings are separated due to an action by the Department of Family and Protective Services, the sibling who is seeking access does not have to be 18 years old; s/he can file at any age. The judge will grant the sibling’s request if it is in the best interest of the child.1

    1 Tex. Fam. Code §§ 102.0045; 153.551

    What are the rights and responsibilities of a person, other than the parent, who is made a conservator?

    If a nonparent, licensed child-placing agency or the Department of Family and Protective Services1 is appointed conservator, they are given a number of rights and responsibilities, including:

    • the right to have physical possession and to direct the moral and religious training of the child;
    • the responsibility of care, control, protection, and reasonable discipline of the child;
    • the responsibility to provide the child with clothing, food, shelter, education, and medical, psychological, and dental care;
    • 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; and
    • the right to designate the primary residence of the child and to make decisions about the child’s education.2

    1 See Tex. Fam. Code § 102.003(7),(6)
    2 Tex. Fam. Code § 153.371

    If my parental rights were terminated, is it possible to get my rights back?

    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)