76R9404 CMR-D
By Smith H.B. No. 753
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 753:
By Isett C.S.H.B. No. 753
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a child's choice in certain family law suits.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 45.002(b), Family Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 (b) If the child is 10 [12] years of age or older, the
1-7 child's written consent to the change of name must be attached to
1-8 the petition.
1-9 SECTION 2. Section 153.008, Family Code, is amended to read
1-10 as follows:
1-11 Sec. 153.008. CHILD'S CHOICE OF MANAGING CONSERVATOR. If the
1-12 child is 10 [12] years of age or older, the child may, by writing
1-13 filed with the court, choose the managing conservator, subject to
1-14 the approval of the court.
1-15 SECTION 3. Section 156.006(b), Family Code, is amended to
1-16 read as follows:
1-17 (b) While a suit for modification is pending, the court may
1-18 not render a temporary order that has the effect of changing the
1-19 designation of a sole or joint managing conservator appointed in a
1-20 final order unless:
1-21 (1) the order is necessary because the child's present
1-22 living environment may endanger the child's physical health or
1-23 significantly impair the child's emotional development;
1-24 (2) the child's managing conservator has voluntarily
2-1 relinquished the actual care, control, and possession of the child
2-2 for more than six months and the temporary order is in the best
2-3 interest of the child; or
2-4 (3) the child is 10 [12] years of age or older and has
2-5 filed with the court in writing the name of the person who is the
2-6 child's choice for managing conservator and the temporary order
2-7 naming that person as managing conservator is in the best interest
2-8 of the child.
2-9 SECTION 4. Section 156.101(b), Family Code, is amended to
2-10 read as follows:
2-11 (b) The court may modify an order that designates a sole
2-12 managing conservator of a child 10 [12] years of age or older if:
2-13 (1) the child has filed with the court in writing the
2-14 name of the person who is the child's choice for managing
2-15 conservator; and
2-16 (2) the court finds that the appointment of the named
2-17 person is in the best interest of the child.
2-18 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-19 applies only to a petition for a change of name of a child or a
2-20 suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed on or after that
2-21 date. A petition or a suit filed before the effective date of this
2-22 Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition or
2-23 the suit was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
2-24 that purpose.
2-25 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
2-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.