By: Puente Senate Sponsor-Harris H.B. No. 568

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 1, 2007; May 2, 2007, read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence; May 19, 2007, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 19, 2007, sent to printer.)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the requirements for an affidavit of voluntary relinquishment of parental rights.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 161.103(b), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The affidavit must contain:

(1) the name, county of residence [address], and age of the parent whose parental rights are being relinquished;

(2) the name, age, and birth date of the child;

(3) the names and addresses of the guardians of the person and estate of the child, if any;

(4) a statement that the affiant is or is not presently obligated by court order to make payments for the support of the child;

(5) a full description and statement of value of all property owned or possessed by the child;

(6) an allegation that termination of the parent-child relationship is in the best interest of the child;

(7) one of the following, as applicable:

(A) the name and county of residence [address]of the other parent;

(B) a statement that the parental rights of the other parent have been terminated by death or court order; or

(C) a statement that the child has no presumed father and that an affidavit of status of the child has been executed as provided by this chapter;

(8) a statement that the parent has been informed of parental rights and duties;

(9) a statement that the relinquishment is revocable, that the relinquishment is irrevocable, or that the relinquishment is irrevocable for a stated period of time;

(10) if the relinquishment is revocable, a statement in boldfaced type concerning the right of the parent signing the affidavit to revoke the relinquishment only if the revocation is made before the 11th day after the date the affidavit is executed;

(11) if the relinquishment is revocable, the name and address of a person to whom the revocation is to be delivered; and

(12) the designation of a prospective adoptive parent, the Department of Family and Protective [and Regulatory] Services, if the department has consented in writing to the designation, or a licensed child-placing agency to serve as managing conservator of the child and the address of the person or agency.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an affidavit of voluntary relinquishment of parental rights executed on or after the effective date of this Act. An affidavit executed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the affidavit was executed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.

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