By Goolsby H.B. No. 32
76R658 MCK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the standard possession order for possession of or
1-3 access to a child.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 153.312(b), Family Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (b) The following provisions govern possession of the child
1-8 for vacations and certain specific holidays and supersede
1-9 conflicting weekend or Wednesday periods of possession. The
1-10 possessory conservator and the managing conservator shall have
1-11 rights of possession of the child as follows:
1-12 (1) the possessory conservator shall have possession
1-13 in even-numbered years, beginning at 6 p.m. on the day the child is
1-14 dismissed from school for the school's spring vacation and ending
1-15 at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that vacation, and
1-16 the managing conservator shall have possession for the same period
1-17 in odd-numbered years;
1-18 (2) if a possessory conservator:
1-19 (A) gives the managing conservator written
1-20 notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an extended
1-21 period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator
1-22 shall have possession of the child for 30 days beginning not
1-23 earlier than the day after the child's school is dismissed for the
1-24 summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school
2-1 resumes at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not
2-2 more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days
2-3 each; or
2-4 (B) does not give the managing conservator
2-5 written notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an
2-6 extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory
2-7 conservator shall have possession of the child for 30 consecutive
2-8 days beginning at 6 p.m. on July 1 and ending at 6 p.m. on July 31;
2-9 (3) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
2-10 conservator written notice by June 1 of each year, the managing
2-11 conservator shall have possession of the child on any one weekend
2-12 beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. on the following
2-13 Sunday during one period of possession by the possessory
2-14 conservator under Subdivision (2), provided that the managing
2-15 conservator picks up the child from the possessory conservator and
2-16 returns the child to that same place; and
2-17 (4) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
2-18 conservator written notice by May 15 of each year or gives the
2-19 possessory conservator 14 days' written notice on or after May 16
2-20 of each year, the managing conservator may designate one weekend
2-21 beginning not earlier than the day after the child's school is
2-22 dismissed for the summer vacation and ending not later than seven
2-23 days before school resumes at the end of the summer vacation,
2-24 during which an otherwise scheduled weekend period of possession by
2-25 the possessory conservator will not take place, provided that the
2-26 weekend designated does not interfere with the possessory
2-27 conservator's period or periods of extended summer possession or
3-1 with Father's Day if the possessory conservator is the father of
3-2 the child.
3-3 SECTION 2. Section 153.313, Family Code, is amended to read
3-4 as follows:
3-5 Sec. 153.313. PARENTS WHO RESIDE OVER 100 MILES APART. If
3-6 the possessory conservator resides more than 100 miles from the
3-7 residence of the child, the possessory conservator shall have the
3-8 right to possession of the child as follows:
3-9 (1) either regular weekend possession beginning on the
3-10 first, third, and fifth Friday as provided under the terms
3-11 applicable to parents who reside 100 miles or less apart or not
3-12 more than one weekend per month of the possessory conservator's
3-13 choice beginning at 6 p.m. on the day school recesses for the
3-14 weekend and ending at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after
3-15 the weekend, provided that the possessory conservator gives the
3-16 managing conservator 14 days' written or telephonic notice
3-17 preceding a designated weekend, and provided that the possessory
3-18 conservator elects an option for this alternative period of
3-19 possession by written notice given to the managing conservator
3-20 within 90 days after the parties begin to reside more than 100
3-21 miles apart, as applicable;
3-22 (2) each year beginning on the day the child is
3-23 dismissed from school for the school's spring vacation and ending
3-24 at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that vacation;
3-25 (3) if the possessory conservator:
3-26 (A) gives the managing conservator written
3-27 notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an extended
4-1 period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator
4-2 shall have possession of the child for 42 days beginning not
4-3 earlier than the day after the child's school is dismissed for the
4-4 summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school
4-5 resumes at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not
4-6 more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days
4-7 each; or
4-8 (B) does not give the managing conservator
4-9 written notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an
4-10 extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory
4-11 conservator shall have possession of the child for 42 consecutive
4-12 days beginning at 6 p.m. on June 15 and ending at 6 p.m. on July
4-13 27;
4-14 (4) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
4-15 conservator written notice by June 1 of each year the managing
4-16 conservator shall have possession of the child on one weekend
4-17 beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. on the following
4-18 Sunday during one period of possession by the possessory
4-19 conservator under Subdivision (3), provided that if a period of
4-20 possession by the possessory conservator exceeds 30 days, the
4-21 managing conservator may have possession of the child under the
4-22 terms of this subdivision on two nonconsecutive weekends during
4-23 that time period, and further provided that the managing
4-24 conservator picks up the child from the possessory conservator and
4-25 returns the child to that same place; and
4-26 (5) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
4-27 conservator written notice by June 1 of each year, the managing
5-1 conservator may designate 21 days beginning not earlier than the
5-2 day after the child's school is dismissed for the summer vacation
5-3 and ending not later than seven days before school resumes at the
5-4 end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not more than two
5-5 separate periods of at least seven consecutive days each, during
5-6 which the possessory conservator may not have possession of the
5-7 child, provided that the period or periods so designated do not
5-8 interfere with the possessory conservator's period or periods of
5-9 extended summer possession or with Father's Day if the possessory
5-10 conservator is the father of the child.
5-11 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
5-12 applies to a standard possession order entered on or after that
5-13 date.
5-14 (b) The change made by this Act constitutes a material and
5-15 substantial change under Section 156.301, Family Code, that would
5-16 authorize a court to modify a standard possession order in effect
5-17 on the effective date of this Act to conform to this Act.
5-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.