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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to intervention by foster parents in certain suits |
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affecting the parent-child relationship. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 102.004, Family Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as |
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follows: |
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(b) An original suit requesting possessory conservatorship |
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may not be filed by a grandparent or other person. However, the |
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court, subject to Subsection (b-1), may grant a grandparent or |
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other person deemed by the court to have had substantial past |
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contact with the child leave to intervene in a pending suit filed by |
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a person authorized to do so under this chapter [subchapter] if |
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there is satisfactory proof to the court that appointment of a |
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parent as a sole managing conservator or both parents as joint |
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managing conservators would significantly impair the child's |
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physical health or emotional development. |
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(b-1) A court may not grant a foster parent of a child placed |
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in the foster parent's home by the Department of Family and |
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Protective Services leave to intervene in a pending suit involving |
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the child, as authorized by Subsection (b), unless the child has |
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been in the foster parent's home for at least 12 months. |
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SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section |
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102.004, Family Code, apply only to a motion to intervene pending on |
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or filed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |