Status Quo in Family Code Statutes are Going to Have to Change

This is a continuation of the last blog I wrote yesterday on how the Standard Possession order statutes managed to turn into minimum possession orders and weaved their way through the Family Code in Texas to whittle away at parental rights.

So we have written 4 new Bills that several people are carrying to the legislators this week and next week before the deadline for filing bills has expired. There are just a couple of weeks left for getting the bills in for this legislative session. So if you want to carry these to the legislators yourself and have a talk with them about how the family codes have been used to tear you and your child apart, download them at the bottom of this page.

The first Bill is one that updates the Possession Order section. Since Judge Puryear has shared his insight on the original legislative intent we wrote this updated Possession Order amending the section to remove the word STANDARD and replace it with MINIMUM so that it accurately reflects the code as it was intended. We also added that nothing in this section impairs the ability of the judge to enter an equal possession schedule. The language we propose for this section is as follows:

The next Bill that goes with this one amends the Rebuttable Presumption section in the Family Code. This Bill adds a least restrictive provision as being in the best interest of the child.

Then the last two cover the written findings in the orders. Whenever a judge creates an order that infringes or deprives a parent of their protected possession rights to their child, you want the judge to write their findings justifying this interference with your parent-child relationship.

Here is the Written findings bill language that we propose for Texas:

You can download those here: Written Findings for Orders Bill v1_0 FFC, Findings Bill v1_0 FFC.

And the other two here: Possession Schedule Bill v1_0 FFC,  Rebuttable Presumption Bill v1_0 FFC

Let us know if you have any questions and write to us to tell us about your experience contact our educational consulting team.