Bill Text: TX HB845 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to possession of or access to a child.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/13 [HB845 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB845-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 845

AN ACT
relating to possession of or access to a child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 153.316, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 153.316. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS. The court
shall order the following general terms and conditions of
possession of a child to apply without regard to the distance
between the residence of a parent and the child:
(1) the managing conservator shall surrender the child
to the possessory conservator at the beginning of each period of the
possessory conservator's possession at the residence of the
managing conservator;
(2) if the possessory conservator elects to begin a
period of possession at the time the child's school is regularly
dismissed, the managing conservator shall surrender the child to
the possessory conservator at the beginning of each period of
possession at the school in which the child is enrolled;
(3) the possessory conservator shall be ordered to do
one of the following:
(A) the possessory conservator shall surrender
the child to the managing conservator at the end of each period of
possession at the residence of the possessory conservator; or
(B) the possessory conservator shall return the
child to the residence of the managing conservator at the end of
each period of possession, except that the order shall provide that
the possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the
managing conservator at the end of each period of possession at the
residence of the possessory conservator if:
(i) at the time the original order or a
modification of an order establishing terms and conditions of
possession or access the possessory conservator and the managing
conservator lived in the same county, the possessory conservator's
county of residence remains the same after the rendition of the
order, and the managing conservator's county of residence changes,
effective on the date of the change of residence by the managing
conservator; or
(ii) the possessory conservator and
managing conservator lived in the same residence at any time during
a six-month period preceding the date on which a suit for
dissolution of the marriage was filed and the possessory
conservator's county of residence remains the same and the managing
conservator's county of residence changes after they no longer live
in the same residence, effective on the date the order is rendered;
(4) if the possessory conservator elects to end a
period of possession at the time the child's school resumes, the
possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the managing
conservator at the end of each period of possession at the school in
which the child is enrolled;
(5) each conservator shall return with the child the
personal effects that the child brought at the beginning of the
period of possession;
(6) either parent may designate a competent adult to
pick up and return the child, as applicable; a parent or a
designated competent adult shall be present when the child is
picked up or returned;
(7) a parent shall give notice to the person in
possession of the child on each occasion that the parent will be
unable to exercise that parent's right of possession for a
specified period;
(8) written notice, including notice provided by
electronic mail or facsimile, shall be deemed to have been timely
made if received or, if applicable, postmarked before or at the time
that notice is due; and
(9) if a conservator's time of possession of a child
ends at the time school resumes and for any reason the child is not
or will not be returned to school, the conservator in possession of
the child shall immediately notify the school and the other
conservator that the child will not be or has not been returned to
school.
SECTION 2. Section 153.317(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If elected by a conservator, the court shall alter the
standard possession order under Sections 153.312, 153.314, and
153.315 to provide for one or more of the following alternative
beginning and ending possession times for the described periods of
possession, unless the court finds that the election is not in the
best interest of the child:
(1) for weekend periods of possession under Section
153.312(a)(1) during the regular school term:
(A) beginning at the time the child's school is
regularly dismissed; [or]
(B) ending at the time the child's school resumes
after the weekend; or
(C) beginning at the time described by Paragraph
(A) and ending at the time described by Paragraph (B);
(2) for Thursday periods of possession under Section
153.312(a)(2):
(A) beginning at the time the child's school is
regularly dismissed; [or]
(B) ending at the time the child's school resumes
on Friday; or
(C) beginning at the time described by Paragraph
(A) and ending at the time described by Paragraph (B);
(3) for spring vacation periods of possession under
Section 153.312(b)(1), beginning at the time the child's school is
dismissed for those vacations;
(4) for Christmas school vacation periods of
possession under Section 153.314(1), beginning at the time the
child's school is dismissed for the vacation;
(5) for Thanksgiving holiday periods of possession
under Section 153.314(3), beginning at the time the child's school
is dismissed for the holiday;
(6) for Father's Day periods of possession under
Section 153.314(5), ending at 8 a.m. on the Monday after Father's
Day weekend;
(7) for Mother's Day periods of possession under
Section 153.314(6):
(A) beginning at the time the child's school is
regularly dismissed on the Friday preceding Mother's Day; [or]
(B) ending at the time the child's school resumes
after Mother's Day; or
(C) beginning at the time described by Paragraph
(A) and ending at the time described by Paragraph (B); or
(8) for weekend periods of possession that are
extended under Section 153.315(b) by a student holiday or teacher
in-service day that falls on a Friday, beginning at the time the
child's school is regularly dismissed on Thursday.
SECTION 3. Section 153.3162, Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. Sections 153.316 and 153.317, Family Code, as
amended by this Act, apply only to a court order providing for
possession of or access to a child rendered on or after the
effective date of this Act. A court order rendered before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the order was rendered, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 845 was passed by the House on April
18, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 845 was passed by the Senate on May
17, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor