JT Borah provides legal counsel to grandparents in Denton County, Texas, who have questions regarding their rights to visit and maintain a relationship with their grandchildren.

In Texas, the legal rights of grandparents to visit or seek a conservator for a grandchild is uncertain because a parent has a constitutionally-protected right to raise his or her own child as the parent sees fit without state interference, unless that parent's ability to protect the child's emotional or physical welfare is in question.

Grandparents Rights Cases

The United States Supreme Court decided that a Washington state law allowing non-parent visitation violated a parent's due process right to make decisions about the care, custody and control of his children. The Washington visitation law was very broad, but at least one court in Texas has applied the Supreme Court's decision to the issue of an unrelated third party's standing to seek a conservatorship.

Since that Supreme Court decision, the constitutionality of the Texas Grandparent Access statute has been raised. Though one Texas Court of Appeals determined that "section 153.422 of the Texas Family Code is not 'breathtakingly broad,' as was the Washington statute," the Court provided no basis for that conclusion other than a reference to a case which found that the Texas grandparent statute had been examined and found to be constitutional.

Texas Family Code

The Texas Family Code governs a grandparent's access to a grandchild. An important case by the Texas Court of Appeals held that the Texas Family Code allows a trial court to grant a grandparent only reasonable access to, not possession of, a grandchild. "Access" in this case means the freedom to communicate with or approach. Unfortunately, possession does not necessarily equate with ability, opportunity, or power to communicate, approach, or pass to or from.

Despite all of this, a grandparent may still file a lawsuit concerning the parent-child relationship at any time, if the grandparent falls within one of the following categories:

• A person, by order of a Court of another country or state, who has visitation rights or access to or is a legal custodian;
• A person is the guardian of the child or governs the child's estate;
• A person other than a foster parent who has cared for (control and possession of) the child for six months or more
• ending ninety days or less prior to the date the petition was filed (subject to computational requirements);
• A person assigned the role of managing conservator in an affidavit of relinquishment (revoked or unrevoked) under chapter 161 of the Family Code or to person adoption consent is given in writing under chapter 162 of the Family Code;
• A person with whom the child and the child's parent, guardian, or managing conservator have lived with for six or more months ending ninety days or less prior to the date the petition was filed, in cases in which the child's parent, guardian, or managing conservator is deceased at the point in time in which the petition is filed (subject to computational requirements);
• A foster parent of a child placed by Texas' Department of Family and Protective Services in the foster parent's residence for twelve months or more ending ninety days or less prior to the date the petition was filed (subject to computational requirements);
• A person related to the child within three degrees of consanguinity if the child's parents are deceased by the date the petition was filed

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) helps many parties resolve disputes involving issues that courts do not recognize, such as grandparents' rights.

Our firm is experienced in these matters and can provide you with information specific to your situation. We will guide you through the process of seeking access to your grandchild, and we will focus on obtaining a fair resolution of your legal issues while treating your case with the discretion and privacy it deserves.

For the entire text of the Texas law governing grandparent rights , please Texas Family Code, Chapter 102, Filing Suit.

Contact our firm online, or call us at (940) 566-4600 to set up a free consultation to learn more about your options in this area of the law.