2005 Texas Family Code CHAPTER 151. RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

FAMILY CODE

SUBTITLE B. SUITS AFFECTING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER 151. RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP


	§ 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 an accredited secondary school in a 
program leading toward a high school diploma until the end of the 
school year in which the child graduates.
	(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, § 1, eff. April 20, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 751, § 23, eff. Sept. 1, 
1995.  Renumbered from § 151.003 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 
821, § 2.13, eff. June 14, 2001.  Amended by Acts 2001, 77th 
Leg., ch. 964, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 
1036, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 924, 
§ 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2005.


	§ 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, § 1, eff. April 20, 1995.  
Renumbered from § 151.004 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, § 
2.13, eff. June 14, 2001.


	§ 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, § 6.18(a), eff. Sept. 1, 
1999.  Renumbered from § 151.005 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 
821, § 2.13, eff. June 14, 2001.