CHAPTER 151. RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

FAMILY CODE

TITLE 5. THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP AND THE SUIT AFFECTING THE

PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

SUBTITLE B. SUITS AFFECTING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER 151. RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

Sec. 151.001. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF PARENT. (a) A parent of a

child has the following rights and duties:

(1) the right to have physical possession, to direct the moral

and religious training, and to designate the residence of the

child;

(2) the duty of care, control, protection, and reasonable

discipline of the child;

(3) the duty to support the child, including providing the child

with clothing, food, shelter, medical and dental care, and

education;

(4) the duty, except when a guardian of the child's estate has

been appointed, to manage the estate of the child, including the

right as an agent of the child to act in relation to the child's

estate if the child's action is required by a state, the United

States, or a foreign government;

(5) except as provided by Section 264.0111, the right to the

services and earnings of the child;

(6) the right to consent to the child's marriage, enlistment in

the armed forces of the United States, medical and dental care,

and psychiatric, psychological, and surgical treatment;

(7) the right to represent the child in legal action and to make

other decisions of substantial legal significance concerning the

child;

(8) the right to receive and give receipt for payments for the

support of the child and to hold or disburse funds for the

benefit of the child;

(9) the right to inherit from and through the child;

(10) the right to make decisions concerning the child's

education; and

(11) any other right or duty existing between a parent and child

by virtue of law.

(b) The duty of a parent to support his or her child exists

while the child is an unemancipated minor and continues as long

as the child is fully enrolled in a secondary school in a program

leading toward a high school diploma and complies with attendance

requirements described by Section 154.002(a)(2).

(c) A parent who fails to discharge the duty of support is

liable to a person who provides necessaries to those to whom

support is owed.

(d) The rights and duties of a parent are subject to:

(1) a court order affecting the rights and duties;

(2) an affidavit of relinquishment of parental rights; and

(3) an affidavit by the parent designating another person or

agency to act as managing conservator.

(e) Only the following persons may use corporal punishment for

the reasonable discipline of a child:

(1) a parent or grandparent of the child;

(2) a stepparent of the child who has the duty of control and

reasonable discipline of the child; and

(3) an individual who is a guardian of the child and who has the

duty of control and reasonable discipline of the child.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20,

1995. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 751, Sec. 23, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995. Renumbered from Sec. 151.003 by Acts 2001, 77th

Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 2.13, eff. June 14, 2001. Amended by Acts

2001, 77th Leg., ch. 964, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003,

78th Leg., ch. 1036, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.

924, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

972, Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2007.

Sec. 151.002. RIGHTS OF A LIVING CHILD AFTER AN ABORTION OR

PREMATURE BIRTH. (a) A living human child born alive after an

abortion or premature birth is entitled to the same rights,

powers, and privileges as are granted by the laws of this state

to any other child born alive after the normal gestation period.

(b) In this code, "born alive" means the complete expulsion or

extraction from its mother of a product of conception,

irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such

separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life such as

beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or

definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the

umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached. Each

product of the birth is considered born alive.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20,

1995. Renumbered from Sec. 151.004 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch.

821, Sec. 2.13, eff. June 14, 2001.

Sec. 151.003. LIMITATION ON STATE AGENCY ACTION. A state agency

may not adopt rules or policies or take any other action that

violates the fundamental right and duty of a parent to direct the

upbringing of the parent's child.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 6.18(a), eff. Sept.

1, 1999. Renumbered from Sec. 151.005 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg.,

ch. 821, Sec. 2.13, eff. June 14, 2001.