79R17530 KKA-F
By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 393
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 393:
By: Goodman C.S.S.B. No. 393
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exercise of limited possession and visitation
rights by a designated person on behalf of a parent serving in the
armed forces and deployed outside this country.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 153, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 153.3161 to read as follows:
Sec. 153.3161. LIMITED POSSESSION DURING MILITARY
DEPLOYMENT. (a) In addition to the general terms and conditions of
possession required by Section 153.316, if a possessory conservator
or a joint managing conservator of the child without the exclusive
right to designate the primary residence of the child is currently a
member of the armed forces of the state or the United States or is
reasonably expected to join those forces, the court shall:
(1) permit that conservator to designate a person who
may exercise limited possession of the child during any period that
the conservator is deployed outside of the United States; and
(2) if the conservator elects to designate a person
under Subdivision (1), provide in the order for limited possession
of the child by the designated person under those circumstances,
subject to the court's determination that the limited possession is
in the best interest of the child.
(b) If the court determines that the limited possession is
in the best interest of the child, the court shall provide in the
order that during periods of deployment:
(1) the designated person has the right to possession
of the child on the first weekend of each month beginning at 6 p.m.
on Friday and ending at 6 p.m. on Sunday;
(2) the other parent shall surrender the child to the
designated person at the beginning of each period of possession at
the other parent's residence;
(3) the designated person shall return the child to
the other parent's residence at the end of each period of
possession;
(4) the child's other parent and the designated person
are subject to the requirements of Sections 153.316(5)-(9);
(5) the designated person has the rights and duties of
a nonparent possessory conservator under Section 153.376(a) during
the period that the person has possession of the child; and
(6) the designated person is subject to any provision
in a court order restricting or prohibiting access to the child by
any specified individual.
(c) After the deployment is concluded, and the deployed
parent returns to that parent's usual residence, the designated
person's right to limited possession under this section terminates
and the rights of all affected parties are governed by the terms of
any court order applicable when a parent is not deployed.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 156, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 156.105 to read as follows:
Sec. 156.105. MODIFICATION OF ORDER BASED ON MILITARY
DEPLOYMENT. (a) The military deployment outside this country of a
person who is a possessory conservator or a joint managing
conservator without the exclusive right to designate the primary
residence of the child is a material and substantial change of
circumstances sufficient to justify a modification of an existing
court order or portion of a decree that sets the terms and
conditions for the possession of or access to a child.
(b) If the court determines that modification is in the best
interest of the child, the court may modify the order or decree to
provide in a manner consistent with Section 153.3161 for limited
possession of the child during the period of the deployment by a
person designated by the deployed conservator.
SECTION 3. Section 153.3161, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship
pending in a trial court on or filed on or after the effective date
of this Act.
SECTION 4. Section 156.105, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to an action to modify an order in a suit
affecting the parent-child relationship pending in a trial court on
or filed on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.