By Barrientos S.B. No. 933
77R5901 JMM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the voluntary relinquishment of parental rights.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 161.103(b), (d), and (e), Family Code,
1-5 are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (b) The affidavit must contain:
1-7 (1) the name, address, and age of the parent whose
1-8 parental rights are being relinquished;
1-9 (2) the name, age, and birth date of the child;
1-10 (3) the names and addresses of the guardians of the
1-11 person and estate of the child, if any;
1-12 (4) a statement that the affiant is or is not
1-13 presently obligated by court order to make payments for the support
1-14 of the child;
1-15 (5) a full description and statement of value of all
1-16 property owned or possessed by the child;
1-17 (6) an allegation that termination of the parent-child
1-18 relationship is in the best interest of the child;
1-19 (7) one of the following, as applicable:
1-20 (A) the name and address of the other parent;
1-21 (B) a statement that the parental rights of the
1-22 other parent have been terminated by death or court order; or
1-23 (C) a statement that the child has no presumed
1-24 father and that an affidavit of status of the child has been
2-1 executed as provided by this chapter;
2-2 (8) a statement that the parent has been informed of
2-3 parental rights and duties;
2-4 (9) a statement that the relinquishment is revocable,
2-5 that the relinquishment is irrevocable, or that the relinquishment
2-6 is irrevocable for a stated period of time;
2-7 (10) if the relinquishment is revocable, a statement
2-8 in boldfaced type concerning the right of the parent signing the
2-9 affidavit to revoke the relinquishment only if the revocation is
2-10 made before the 11th day after the date the affidavit is executed;
2-11 (11) if the relinquishment is revocable, the name and
2-12 address of a person to whom the revocation is to be delivered;
2-13 [and]
2-14 (12) the designation of a prospective adoptive parent,
2-15 the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, if the
2-16 department has consented in writing to the designation, or a
2-17 licensed child-placing agency to serve as managing conservator of
2-18 the child and the address of the person or agency;
2-19 (13) if the relinquishment is revocable, a statement
2-20 that the parent signing the affidavit is aware that the parent may
2-21 revoke the affidavit before the 11th day after the date the
2-22 affidavit is executed; and
2-23 (14) a statement that the parent signing the affidavit
2-24 is aware that no person or entity can guarantee the birth parent
2-25 anonymity from the child the birth parent is relinquishing.
2-26 (d) A copy of the affidavit shall be provided to the parent
2-27 at the time the parent signs the affidavit. The parent is entitled
3-1 to a copy of the filed affidavit from the clerk of the court on
3-2 payment of the required fee.
3-3 (e) The relinquishment in an affidavit that designates the
3-4 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services [or a licensed
3-5 child-placing agency] to serve as the managing conservator is
3-6 irrevocable. A relinquishment in any other affidavit of
3-7 relinquishment is revocable unless it expressly provides that it is
3-8 irrevocable for a stated period of time not to exceed 60 days after
3-9 the date of its execution.
3-10 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to
3-11 an affidavit of relinquishment of parental rights executed on or
3-12 after the effective date of this Act. An affidavit executed before
3-13 the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
3-14 the date the affidavit was executed, and the former law is
3-15 continued in effect for that purpose.
3-16 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-17 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
3-18 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
3-19 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
3-20 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.