1-1 By: Goolsby (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 32
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House March 22, 1999;
1-3 March 23, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; April 27, 1999, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; April 27, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the standard possession order for possession of or
1-9 access to a child.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 153.312(b), Family Code, is amended to
1-12 read as follows:
1-13 (b) The following provisions govern possession of the child
1-14 for vacations and certain specific holidays and supersede
1-15 conflicting weekend or Wednesday periods of possession. The
1-16 possessory conservator and the managing conservator shall have
1-17 rights of possession of the child as follows:
1-18 (1) the possessory conservator shall have possession
1-19 in even-numbered years, beginning at 6 p.m. on the day the child is
1-20 dismissed from school for the school's spring vacation and ending
1-21 at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that vacation, and
1-22 the managing conservator shall have possession for the same period
1-23 in odd-numbered years;
1-24 (2) if a possessory conservator:
1-25 (A) gives the managing conservator written
1-26 notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an extended
1-27 period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator
1-28 shall have possession of the child for 30 days beginning not
1-29 earlier than the day after the child's school is dismissed for the
1-30 summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school
1-31 resumes at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not
1-32 more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days
1-33 each; or
1-34 (B) does not give the managing conservator
1-35 written notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an
1-36 extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory
1-37 conservator shall have possession of the child for 30 consecutive
1-38 days beginning at 6 p.m. on July 1 and ending at 6 p.m. on July 31;
1-39 (3) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
1-40 conservator written notice by April 15 [June 1] of each year, the
1-41 managing conservator shall have possession of the child on any one
1-42 weekend beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. on the
1-43 following Sunday during one period of possession by the possessory
1-44 conservator under Subdivision (2), provided that the managing
1-45 conservator picks up the child from the possessory conservator and
1-46 returns the child to that same place; and
1-47 (4) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
1-48 conservator written notice by April 1 [May 15] of each year or
1-49 gives the possessory conservator 14 days' written notice on or
1-50 after April 2 [May 16] of each year, the managing conservator may
1-51 designate one weekend beginning not earlier than the day after the
1-52 child's school is dismissed for the summer vacation and ending not
1-53 later than seven days before school resumes at the end of the
1-54 summer vacation, during which an otherwise scheduled weekend period
1-55 of possession by the possessory conservator will not take place,
1-56 provided that the weekend designated does not interfere with the
1-57 possessory conservator's period or periods of extended summer
1-58 possession or with Father's Day if the possessory conservator is
1-59 the father of the child.
1-60 SECTION 2. Section 153.313, Family Code, is amended to read
1-61 as follows:
1-62 Sec. 153.313. PARENTS WHO RESIDE OVER 100 MILES APART. If
1-63 the possessory conservator resides more than 100 miles from the
1-64 residence of the child, the possessory conservator shall have the
2-1 right to possession of the child as follows:
2-2 (1) either regular weekend possession beginning on the
2-3 first, third, and fifth Friday as provided under the terms
2-4 applicable to parents who reside 100 miles or less apart or not
2-5 more than one weekend per month of the possessory conservator's
2-6 choice beginning at 6 p.m. on the day school recesses for the
2-7 weekend and ending at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after
2-8 the weekend, provided that the possessory conservator gives the
2-9 managing conservator 14 days' written or telephonic notice
2-10 preceding a designated weekend, and provided that the possessory
2-11 conservator elects an option for this alternative period of
2-12 possession by written notice given to the managing conservator
2-13 within 90 days after the parties begin to reside more than 100
2-14 miles apart, as applicable;
2-15 (2) each year beginning on the day the child is
2-16 dismissed from school for the school's spring vacation and ending
2-17 at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that vacation;
2-18 (3) if the possessory conservator:
2-19 (A) gives the managing conservator written
2-20 notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an extended
2-21 period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator
2-22 shall have possession of the child for 42 days beginning not
2-23 earlier than the day after the child's school is dismissed for the
2-24 summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school
2-25 resumes at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not
2-26 more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days
2-27 each; or
2-28 (B) does not give the managing conservator
2-29 written notice by March 15 [May 1] of each year specifying an
2-30 extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory
2-31 conservator shall have possession of the child for 42 consecutive
2-32 days beginning at 6 p.m. on June 15 and ending at 6 p.m. on July
2-33 27;
2-34 (4) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
2-35 conservator written notice by April 15 [June 1] of each year the
2-36 managing conservator shall have possession of the child on one
2-37 weekend beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. on the
2-38 following Sunday during one period of possession by the possessory
2-39 conservator under Subdivision (3), provided that if a period of
2-40 possession by the possessory conservator exceeds 30 days, the
2-41 managing conservator may have possession of the child under the
2-42 terms of this subdivision on two nonconsecutive weekends during
2-43 that time period, and further provided that the managing
2-44 conservator picks up the child from the possessory conservator and
2-45 returns the child to that same place; and
2-46 (5) if the managing conservator gives the possessory
2-47 conservator written notice by April 15 [June 1] of each year, the
2-48 managing conservator may designate 21 days beginning not earlier
2-49 than the day after the child's school is dismissed for the summer
2-50 vacation and ending not later than seven days before school resumes
2-51 at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not more than
2-52 two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days each,
2-53 during which the possessory conservator may not have possession of
2-54 the child, provided that the period or periods so designated do not
2-55 interfere with the possessory conservator's period or periods of
2-56 extended summer possession or with Father's Day if the possessory
2-57 conservator is the father of the child.
2-58 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-59 applies to a standard possession order entered on or after that
2-60 date.
2-61 (b) The change made by this Act constitutes a material and
2-62 substantial change under Section 156.301, Family Code, that would
2-63 authorize a court to modify a standard possession order in effect
2-64 on the effective date of this Act to conform to this Act.
2-65 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-66 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-67 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-68 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-69 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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