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.