In Texas the parent-child relationship must be terminated between each parent or a
biological father before the Court has the power to grant an adoption.  A parent could
sign an Affidavit of Relinquishment voluntarily giving up his or her rights to the child. An
affidavit of relinquishment is considered to a voluntary termination of rights.

The laws in Texas provide many ways that the parents of a child or a biological father
can be terminated involuntarily.

The grounds for involuntary termination are listed below.  The Court has the power to
terminate the parent-child relationship if the Court finds at least one (1) of the stautory
grounds listed below and 2) that the termination of the parent-child relationship will be in
the best interest of the child.

After  the Court terminates the parent-child relationship, a third party or a step-parent
can petition the Court for an adoption.   The Court will require that an attorney be
appointed for the minor children that is called a Guardian Ad Litem,  only for the purpose
of the adoption proceedings. The Court will also require a social study into the
background and home of any person that petitions the Court for the adoption of a child.  
A social study is required even if one of the persons that files the petition for adoption is
the step-parent joined with the other parent.  

GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION

The court may order termination of the parent-child relationship if the court finds by
clear and convincing evidence:

(1) that the parent has:

(A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the possession of another not the parent and
expressed an intent not to return;

(B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the possession of another not the parent without
expressing an intent to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
and remained away for a period of at least three months;

(C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the possession of another without providing
adequate support of the child and remained away for a period of at least six months;

(D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the child to remain in conditions or
surroundings which endanger the physical or emotional well-being of the child;

(E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the child with persons who engaged in
conduct which endangers the physical or emotional well-being of the child;

(F) failed to support the child in accordance with the parent's ability during a period of
one year ending within six months of the date of the filing of the petition;

(G) abandoned the child without identifying the child or furnishing means of
identification, and the child's identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of
reasonable diligence;

(H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child
beginning at a time during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the birth,
failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the mother during the period of
abandonment before the birth of the child, and remained apart from the child or failed to
support the child since the birth;

(I) contumaciously refused to submit to a reasonable and lawful order of a court under
Subchapter D, Chapter 261;

(J) been the major cause of:

(i) the failure of the child to be enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or

(ii) the child's absence from the child's home without the consent of the parents or
guardian for a substantial length of time or without the intent to return;

(K) executed before or after the suit is filed an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of
relinquishment of parental rights as provided by this chapter;

(L) been convicted or has been placed on community supervision, including deferred
adjudication community supervision, for being criminally responsible for the death or
serious injury of a child under the following sections of the Penal Code or adjudicated
under Title 3 for conduct that caused the death or serious injury of a child and that would
constitute a violation of one of the following Penal Code sections:

(i) Section 19.02 (murder);

(ii) Section 19.03 (capital murder);

(iii) Section 19.04 (manslaughter);

(iv) Section 21.11 (indecency with a child);

(v) Section 22.01 (assault);

(vi) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);

(vii) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);

(viii) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault);

(ix) Section 22.04 (injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual);

(x) Section 22.041 (abandoning or endangering child);

(xi) Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual conduct);

(xii) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by a child); and

(xiii) Section 43.26 (possession or promotion of child pornography);

(M) had his or her parent-child relationship terminated with respect to another child
based on a finding that the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state;

(N) constructively abandoned the child who has been in the permanent or temporary
managing conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services or an
authorized agency for not less than six months, and:

(i) the department or authorized agency has made reasonable efforts to return the child
to the parent;

(ii) the parent has not regularly visited or maintained significant contact with the child;
and

(iii) the parent has demonstrated an inability to provide the child with a safe environment;

(O) failed to comply with the provisions of a court order that specifically established the
actions necessary for the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the
permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department of Family and
Protective Services for not less than nine months as a result of the child's removal from
the parent under Chapter 262 for the abuse or neglect of the child;

(P) used a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a
manner that endangered the health or safety of the child, and:

(i) failed to complete a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program; or

(ii) after completion of a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program, continued
to abuse a controlled substance;

(Q) knowingly engaged in criminal conduct that has resulted in the parent's:

(i) conviction of an offense; and

(ii) confinement or imprisonment and inability to care for the child for not less than two
years from the date of filing the petition;

(R) been the cause of the child being born addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance,
other than a controlled substance legally obtained by prescription, as defined by Section
261.001;

(S) voluntarily delivered the child to a designated emergency infant care provider under
Section 262.302 without expressing an intent to return for the child; or

(T) been convicted of the murder of the other parent of the child under Section 19.02 or
19.03, Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the law of a foreign
country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice that contains elements that are
substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal
Code; and

(2) that termination is in the best interest of the child.
MILTON I. FAGIN
   ATTORNEY AT LAW
BOARD CERTIFIED FAMILY LAW
    TEXAS BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION
Adoption
"If you don't know
the law know a
lawyer."
210.736.4423