H.B. No. 3997
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the Uniform Parentage Act, termination of parental
  rights, and matters relating to determination of paternity.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 102.009(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), the following are
  entitled to service of citation on the filing of a petition in an
  original suit:
               (1)  a managing conservator;
               (2)  a possessory conservator;
               (3)  a person having possession of or access to the
  child under an order;
               (4)  a person required by law or by order to provide for
  the support of the child;
               (5)  a guardian of the person of the child;
               (6)  a guardian of the estate of the child;
               (7)  each parent as to whom the parent-child
  relationship has not been terminated or process has not been waived
  under Chapter 161;
               (8)  an alleged father, unless there is attached to the
  petition an affidavit of waiver of interest in a child executed by
  the alleged father as provided by Chapter 161 or unless the
  petitioner has complied with the provisions of Section
  161.002(b)(2), (3), or (4) [161.002(b)(2) or (b)(3)];
               (9)  a man who has filed a notice of intent to claim
  paternity as provided by Chapter 160;
               (10)  the Department of Family and Protective Services,
  if the petition requests that the department be appointed as
  managing conservator of the child;
               (11)  the Title IV-D agency, if the petition requests
  the termination of the parent-child relationship and support rights
  have been assigned to the Title IV-D agency under Chapter 231;
               (12)  a prospective adoptive parent to whom standing
  has been conferred under Section 102.0035; and
               (13)  a person designated as the managing conservator
  in a revoked or unrevoked affidavit of relinquishment under Chapter
  161 or to whom consent to adoption has been given in writing under
  Chapter 162.
         SECTION 2.  Section 160.403, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 160.403.  NOTICE OF PROCEEDING. Except as provided by
  Sections 161.002(b)(2), (3), and (4) and (f), notice [Notice] of a
  proceeding to adopt or to terminate parental rights regarding a
  child must be given to a registrant who has timely registered with
  regard to that child. Notice must be given in a manner prescribed
  for service of process in a civil action.
         SECTION 3.  Section 160.422(d), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  A search of the registry is not required if a
  parent-child relationship exists between a man and the child, as
  provided by Section 160.201(b), and that man:
               (1)  has been served with citation of the proceeding
  for termination of the parent-child relationship; or
               (2)  [the only man alleged to be the father of the
  child] has signed a [waiver of interest in, or] relinquishment of
  parental rights with regard to[,] the child.
         SECTION 4.  Section 161.002, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 161.002.  TERMINATION OF THE RIGHTS OF AN ALLEGED
  BIOLOGICAL FATHER. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
  section, the [The] procedural and substantive standards for
  termination of parental rights apply to the termination of the
  rights of an alleged father.
         (b)  The rights of an alleged father may be terminated if:
               (1)  after being served with citation, he does not
  respond by timely filing an admission of paternity or a
  counterclaim for paternity under Chapter 160;
               (2)  the child is over one year of age at the time the
  petition for termination of the parent-child relationship or for
  adoption is filed, he has not registered with the paternity
  registry under Chapter 160, and after the exercise of due diligence
  by the petitioner:
                     (A)  his identity and location are unknown; or
                     (B)  his identity is known but he cannot be
  located; [or]
               (3)  the child is under one year of age at the time the
  petition for termination of the parent-child relationship or for
  adoption is filed and he has not registered with the paternity
  registry under Chapter 160; or
               (4)  he has registered with the paternity registry
  under Chapter 160, but the petitioner's attempt to personally serve
  citation at the address provided to the registry and at any other
  address for the alleged father known by the petitioner has been
  unsuccessful, despite the due diligence of the petitioner.
         (c)  The termination of the rights of an alleged father under
  Subsection (b)(2) rendered on or after January 1, 1998, and before
  January 1, 2008, does not require personal service of citation or
  citation by publication on the alleged father.
         (c-1)  The termination of the rights of an alleged father
  under Subsection (b)(2) or (3) rendered on or after January 1, 2008,
  does not require personal service of citation or citation by
  publication on the alleged father, and there is no requirement to
  identify or locate an alleged father who has not registered with the
  paternity registry under Chapter 160.
         (d)  The termination of rights of an alleged father under
  Subsection (b)(4) [(b)(3)] does not require service of citation by
  publication on the alleged father.
         (e)  The court shall not render an order terminating parental
  rights under Subsection (b)(2) or (3) unless the court receives
  evidence of a certificate of the results of a search of the
  paternity registry under Chapter 160 from the bureau of vital
  statistics indicating that no man has registered the intent to
  claim paternity[, after reviewing the petitioner's sworn affidavit
  describing the petitioner's effort to identify and locate the
  alleged father and considering any evidence submitted by the
  attorney ad litem for the alleged father, has found that the
  petitioner exercised due diligence in attempting to identify and
  locate the alleged father. The order shall contain specific
  findings regarding due diligence of the petitioner].
         (f)  The court shall not render an order terminating parental
  rights under Subsection (b)(4) [(b)(3)] unless the court, after
  reviewing the petitioner's sworn affidavit describing the
  petitioner's effort to obtain personal service of citation on the
  alleged father and considering any evidence submitted by the
  attorney ad litem for the alleged father, has found that the
  petitioner exercised due diligence in attempting to obtain service
  on the alleged father. The order shall contain specific findings
  regarding the exercise of due diligence of the petitioner.
         SECTION 5.  Section 161.103(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The affidavit must contain:
               (1)  the name, 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 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 6.  Section 161.1035, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 161.1035.  REVOCABILITY OF CERTAIN AFFIDAVITS. An
  affidavit of relinquishment of parental rights [or affidavit of
  waiver of interest in a child] that fails to state that the
  relinquishment or waiver is irrevocable for a stated time is:
               (1)  revocable only if the revocation is made before
  the 11th day after the date the affidavit is executed; and
               (2)  irrevocable on or after the 11th day after the date
  the affidavit is executed.
         SECTION 7.  Section 161.106(f), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (f)  A waiver in an affidavit under this section [that
  designates the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or
  a licensed child-placing agency to serve as the managing
  conservator] is irrevocable. [A waiver in any other affidavit
  under this section is revocable unless it expressly provides that
  it is irrevocable for a stated period not to exceed 60 days after
  the date of execution.]
         SECTION 8.  Section 161.107(a)(1), Family Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
               (1)  "Parent" means a parent, as defined by Section
  160.102, whose parent-child relationship with a child has not been
  terminated. The term does not include a man who does not have a
  parent-child relationship established under Chapter 160.
         SECTION 9.  Section 161.107(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  If a parent of the child has not been personally served
  in a suit in which the Department of Family and Protective [and
  Regulatory] Services seeks termination, the department must make a
  diligent effort to locate that parent.
         SECTION 10.  Section 161.109(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  If a parent-child relationship does not exist between
  the child and any man [an affidavit of status of child as provided
  by this chapter states that the father of the child is unknown and
  no probable father is known], a certificate from the bureau of vital
  statistics signed by the registrar that a diligent search has been
  made of the paternity registry maintained by the bureau and that a
  registration has not been found pertaining to the father of the
  child in question must be filed with the court before a trial on the
  merits in the suit for termination may be held.
         SECTION 11.  Section 162.018(d), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  At the time an adoption order is rendered, the court
  shall provide to the parents of an adopted child information
  provided by the bureau of vital statistics that describes the
  functions of the voluntary adoption registry under Subchapter E.
  The licensed child-placing agency shall provide to each of the
  child's biological parents known to the agency, the information
  when the parent signs an affidavit of relinquishment of parental
  rights[, affidavit of status of child,] or affidavit of waiver of
  interest in a child. The information shall include the right of the
  child or biological parent to refuse to participate in the
  registry. If the adopted child is 14 years old or older the court
  shall provide the information to the child.
         SECTION 12.  Sections 263.407(a) and (c), Family Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent who
  delivers a child to a designated emergency infant care provider in
  accordance with Subchapter D, Chapter 262:
               (1)  is the child's biological parent; [and]
               (2)  intends to relinquish parental rights and consents
  to the termination of parental rights with regard to the child; and
               (3)  intends to waive the right to notice of the suit
  terminating the parent-child relationship.
         (c)  Before the court may render an order terminating [filing
  a petition to terminate the] parental rights with regard to a child
  taken into the department's custody under Section 262.303, the
  department must:
               (1)  verify with the National Crime Information Center
  and state and local law enforcement agencies that the child is not a
  missing child; and
               (2)  obtain a certificate of the search of the
  paternity registry under Subchapter E, Chapter 160, not earlier
  than the date the department estimates to be the 30th day after the
  child's date of birth.
         SECTION 13.  Sections 161.105 and 161.106(g), (h), and (j),
  Family Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 14.  The change in law made by this Act by the
  amendment of Sections 263.407(a) and (c), Family Code, applies to a
  child for whom the Department of Family and Protective Services
  assumes responsibility under Subchapter D, Chapter 262, Family
  Code, regardless of whether the department assumed responsibility
  for the child before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 15.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only
  to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed on or after
  the effective date of this Act. A suit affecting the parent-child
  relationship filed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 16.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 3997 was passed by the House on May 9,
  2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 3997 was passed by the Senate on May
  23, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor