Title FA, Family Code

Sec. 162.0045. PREFERENTIAL SETTING. The court shall grant a motion for a preferential setting for a final hearing on an adoption and shall give precedence to that hearing over all other civil cases not given preference by other law if the adoption evaluation has been filed and t…

Sec. 162.005. PREPARATION OF HEALTH, SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND GENETIC HISTORY REPORT. (a) This section does not apply to an adoption by the child's: (1) grandparent; (2) aunt or uncle by birth, marriage, or prior adoption; or (3) stepparent. (b) Before placing a child for adoptio…

Sec. 162.006. ACCESS TO HEALTH, SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND GENETIC HISTORY REPORT; RETENTION. (a) Redesignated by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 944, Sec. 15, eff. September 1, 2015. (b) The department, licensed child-placing agency, or court retaining a copy of the report shall p…

Sec. 162.0062. ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the prospective adoptive parents of a child are entitled to examine the records and other information relating to the history of the child, including confidential information other than the identity o…

Sec. 162.0065. EDITING ADOPTION RECORDS IN DEPARTMENT PLACEMENT. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in an adoption in which a child is placed for adoption by the Department of Family and Protective Services, the department is not required to edit records to prot…

Sec. 162.007. CONTENTS OF HEALTH, SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND GENETIC HISTORY REPORT. (a) The health history of the child must include information about: (1) the child's health status at the time of placement; (2) the child's birth, neonatal, and other medical, psychological, psychi…

Sec. 162.008. FILING OF HEALTH, SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND GENETIC HISTORY REPORT. (a) This section does not apply to an adoption by the child's: (1) grandparent; (2) aunt or uncle by birth, marriage, or prior adoption; or (3) stepparent. (b) A petition for adoption may not be gran…

Sec. 162.0085. CRIMINAL HISTORY REPORT REQUIRED. (a) In a suit affecting the parent-child relationship in which an adoption is sought, the court shall order each person seeking to adopt the child to obtain that person's own criminal history record information. The court shall acc…

Sec. 162.0086. INFORMATION REGARDING SIBLING ACCESS. (a) The Department of Family and Protective Services shall provide information to each person seeking to adopt a child placed for adoption by the department regarding the right of a child's sibling to file a suit for access to …

Sec. 162.009. RESIDENCE WITH PETITIONER. (a) The court may not grant an adoption until the child has resided with the petitioner for not less than six months. (b) On request of the petitioner, the court may waive the residence requirement if the waiver is in the best interest of …

Sec. 162.010. CONSENT REQUIRED. (a) Unless the managing conservator is the petitioner, the written consent of a managing conservator to the adoption must be filed. The court may waive the requirement of consent by the managing conservator if the court finds that the consent is be…

Sec. 162.011. REVOCATION OF CONSENT. At any time before an order granting the adoption of the child is rendered, a consent required by Section 162.010 may be revoked by filing a signed revocation. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995.

Sec. 162.012. DIRECT OR COLLATERAL ATTACK. (a) Notwithstanding Rule 329, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the validity of an adoption order is not subject to attack after six months after the date the order was signed. (b) The validity of a final adoption order is not subject to a…

Sec. 162.013. ABATEMENT OR DISMISSAL. (a) If the sole petitioner dies or the joint petitioners die, the court shall dismiss the suit for adoption. (b) If one of the joint petitioners dies, the proceeding shall continue uninterrupted. (c) If the joint petitioners divorce, the cour…

Sec. 162.014. ATTENDANCE AT HEARING REQUIRED. (a) If the joint petitioners are husband and wife and it would be unduly difficult for one of the petitioners to appear at the hearing, the court may waive the attendance of that petitioner if the other spouse is present. (b) A child …

Sec. 162.015. RACE OR ETHNICITY. (a) In determining the best interest of the child, the court may not deny or delay the adoption or otherwise discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity of the child or the prospective adoptive parents. (b) This section does not apply to a pers…

Sec. 162.016. ADOPTION ORDER. (a) If a petition requesting termination has been joined with a petition requesting adoption, the court shall also terminate the parent-child relationship at the same time the adoption order is rendered. The court must make separate findings that the…

Sec. 162.017. EFFECT OF ADOPTION. (a) An order of adoption creates the parent-child relationship between the adoptive parent and the child for all purposes. (b) An adopted child is entitled to inherit from and through the child's adoptive parents as though the child were the biol…

Sec. 162.019. COPY OF ORDER. A copy of the adoption order is not required to be mailed to the parties as provided in Rules 119a and 239a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995.

Sec. 162.020. WITHDRAWAL OR DENIAL OF PETITION. If a petition requesting adoption is withdrawn or denied, the court may order the removal of the child from the proposed adoptive home if removal is in the child's best interest and may enter any order necessary for the welfare of t…

Sec. 162.021. SEALING FILE. (a) The court, on the motion of a party or on the court's own motion, may order the sealing of the file and the minutes of the court, or both, in a suit requesting an adoption. (b) Rendition of the order does not relieve the clerk from the duty to send…

Sec. 162.022. CONFIDENTIALITY MAINTAINED BY CLERK. The records concerning a child maintained by the district clerk after entry of an order of adoption are confidential. No person is entitled to access to the records or may obtain information from the records except for good cause…

Sec. 162.023. ADOPTION ORDER FROM FOREIGN COUNTRY. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, an adoption order rendered to a resident of this state that is made by a foreign country shall be accorded full faith and credit by the courts of this state and enforced as if the order we…

Sec. 162.025. PLACEMENT BY UNAUTHORIZED PERSON; OFFENSE. (a) A person who is not the natural or adoptive parent of the child, the legal guardian of the child, or a child-placing agency licensed under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, commits an offense if the person: (1) serves a…

Sec. 162.026. REGULATED CUSTODY TRANSFER OF ADOPTED CHILD. A parent, managing conservator, or guardian of an adopted child may not transfer permanent physical custody of the child to any person who is not a relative or stepparent of the child or an adult who has a significant and…

Sec. 162.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Appropriate public authorities," with reference to this state, means the commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services. (2) "Appropriate authority in the receiving state," with reference to this state, means t…

Sec. 162.102. ADOPTION OF COMPACT; TEXT. The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is adopted by this state and entered into with all other jurisdictions in form substantially as provided by this subchapter. INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN ARTICLE I. PUR…

Sec. 162.103. FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHILD. (a) Financial responsibility for a child placed as provided in the compact is determined, in the first instance, as provided in Article V of the compact. After partial or complete default of performance under the provisions of Art…

Sec. 162.104. APPROVAL OF PLACEMENT. The commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services may not approve the placement of a child in this state without the concurrence of the individuals with whom the child is proposed to be placed or the head of an institution w…

Sec. 162.105. PLACEMENT IN ANOTHER STATE. A juvenile court may place a delinquent child in an institution in another state as provided by Article VI of the compact. After placement in another state, the court retains jurisdiction of the child as provided by Article V of the compa…

Sec. 162.106. COMPACT AUTHORITY. (a) The governor shall appoint the commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services as compact administrator. (b) The commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services shall designate a deputy compact administrator a…

Sec. 162.107. OFFENSES; PENALTIES. (a) An individual, agency, corporation, or child-care facility that violates a provision of the compact commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a Class B misdemeanor. (b) An individual, agency, corporation, child-care facility, o…

Sec. 162.201. ADOPTION OF COMPACT; TEXT. The Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance is adopted by this state and entered into with all other jurisdictions joining in the compact in form substantially as provided under this subchapter. INTERSTATE COMPACT ON ADOPTION…

Sec. 162.202. AUTHORITY OF DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES. The Department of Family and Protective Services, with the concurrence of the Health and Human Services Commission, may develop, participate in the development of, negotiate, and enter into one or more inter…

Sec. 162.203. COMPACT ADMINISTRATION. The commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services shall serve as the compact administrator. The administrator shall cooperate with all departments, agencies, and officers of this state and its subdivisions in facilitating t…

Sec. 162.204. SUPPLEMENTARY AGREEMENTS. The compact administrator may enter into supplementary agreements with appropriate officials of other states under the compact. If a supplementary agreement requires or authorizes the use of any institution or facility of this state or requ…

Sec. 162.205. PAYMENTS BY STATE. The compact administrator, subject to the approval of the chief state fiscal officer, may make or arrange for payments necessary to discharge financial obligations imposed on this state by the compact or by a supplementary agreement entered into u…

Sec. 162.206. PENALTIES. A person who, under a compact entered into under this subchapter, knowingly obtains or attempts to obtain or aids or abets any person in obtaining, by means of a wilfully false statement or representation or by impersonation or other fraudulent device, an…

Sec. 162.301. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Adoption assistance agreement" means a written agreement, binding on the parties to the agreement, between the Department of Family and Protective Services and the prospective adoptive parents that specifies the nature and amoun…

Sec. 162.304. FINANCIAL AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. (a) The department shall administer a program to provide adoption assistance for eligible children and enter into adoption assistance agreements with the adoptive parents of a child as authorized by Part E of Title IV of the federal…

Sec. 162.3041. CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE AFTER CHILD'S 18TH BIRTHDAY. (a) The department shall, in accordance with department rules, offer adoption assistance after a child's 18th birthday to the child's adoptive parents under an existing adoption assistance agreement entered in…

Sec. 162.306. POSTADOPTION SERVICES. (a) The department may provide services after adoption to adoptees and adoptive families for whom the department provided services before the adoption. (b) The department may provide services under this section directly or through contract. (c…

Sec. 162.3085. ADOPTIVE PLACEMENT IN COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW REQUIRED. The department or a licensed child-placing agency making an adoptive placement shall comply with the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. Section 1996b). Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 94…

Sec. 162.401. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to provide for the establishment of mutual consent voluntary adoption registries through which adoptees, birth parents, and biological siblings may voluntarily locate each other. It is not the purpose of this subchapter to …

Sec. 162.402. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Administrator" means the administrator of a mutual consent voluntary adoption registry established under this subchapter. (2) "Adoptee" means a person 18 years of age or older who has been legally adopted in this state or anothe…

Sec. 162.403. ESTABLISHMENT OF VOLUNTARY ADOPTION REGISTRIES. (a) The vital statistics unit shall establish and maintain a mutual consent voluntary adoption registry. (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an agency authorized by the department to place children for adoption a…