Texas Family Code
§ 161.005 — TERMINATION WHEN PARENT IS PETITIONER
FA § 161.005Title 5. THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP AND THE SUIT AFFECTING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP · Part B. SUITS AFFECTING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP · Ch. 161. TERMINATION OF THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP · Art. A. GROUNDS
Statute text
View on source(a)A parent may file a suit for termination of the petitioner's parent-child relationship. Except as provided by Subsection (h), the court may order termination if termination is in the best interest of the child.
(b)If the petition designates the Department of Family and Protective Services as managing conservator, the department shall be given service of citation. The court shall notify the department if the court appoints the department as the managing conservator of the child.
(c)Subject to Subsection (d), a man may file a suit for termination of the parent-child relationship between the man and a child if, without obtaining genetic testing, the man signed an acknowledgment of paternity of the child in accordance with Subchapter D, Chapter 160, or was adjudicated to be the father of the child in a previous proceeding under this title in which genetic testing did not occur. The petition must be verified and must allege facts showing that the petitioner:
(1)is not the child's genetic father; and
(2)signed the acknowledgment of paternity or failed to contest parentage in the previous proceeding because of the mistaken belief, at the time the acknowledgment was signed or on the date the court order in the previous proceeding was rendered, that he was the child's genetic father based on misrepresentations that led him to that conclusion.
(d)A man may not file a petition under Subsection (c) if:
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Legislative history
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 54 (S.B. 785), Sec. 2, eff. May 12, 2011. Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 227 (H.B. 154), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 1.081, eff. April 2, 2015.