HBA-LJP H.B. 1635 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1635
By: King, Phil
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
2/25/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, prospective adoptive parents do not have standing to
file suit for adoption without a valid voluntary relinquishment of parental
rights signed by the parent not earlier than 48 hours after the birth of
the child. When an adoptive suit is filed, a home screening of the adoptive
parents' home is required to ensure that the adoptive family is safe and
suitable for the child to be adopted.  Since the adoptive parents have to
wait until the child is born to file suit the child is sometimes placed in
a foster home during the period of the home screening.  House Bill 1635
allows a person who has been named as a prospective adoptive parent of a
child by a pregnant woman or the parent of the child to confer standing to
file suit prior to the birth of the child. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1635 amends the Family Code to authorize a person who has been
named as a prospective adoptive parent of a child by a pregnant woman or
the parent of the child, in a verified statement to confer standing
(statement), regardless of whether the child has been born, to file an
original suit affecting the parent-child relationship. 

The bill authorizes a pregnant woman or a parent of a child to execute a
statement to a prospective adoptive parent and sets forth the required
contents of the statement.  The bill also provides that the statement must
be attached to the petition in the suit affecting the parent-child
relationship and cannot be used for any purpose other than to confer
standing in the proceeding for which the petition is filed. 

The bill provides that a statement may be signed at any time after the
first trimester of the pregnancy of the mother of the unborn child whose
parental rights are to be terminated.  The bill also provides that a
statement is not required in certain suits affecting the parent-child
relationship brought by a person who has standing to file or any other law
under which a person has standing to file a suit. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.