The Guerra Law Firm

Carrollton TX Family Law Attorneys

Parents Rights and Responsibilities

If you are looking for an experienced parents rights attorney, contact The Guerra Law Firm!  Family law clients often need to know more about the rights of non-custodial parents, rights of unmarried fathers and mothers, and Texas joint custody laws. We will give you practical advice to help you develop a parenting plan that allows you to co-parent with your child's other parent.  When you cannot agree on a parenting plan, the judge will enter an order that sets out your specific rights and duties.  Normally in Texas, parents will have the following rights and duties:

RIGHTS OF PARENT AT ALL TIMES

Unless limited by court order, a parent appointed as a conservator of a child has, at all times, the right: 

1. to receive information from any other conservator of the child concerning the health, education, and welfare of the child; 
2. to confer with the other parent to the extent possible before making a decision concerning the health, education, and welfare of the child; 
3. of access to medical, dental, psychological, and educational records of the child; 
4. to consult with a physician, dentist, or psychologist of the child; 
5. to consult with school officials concerning the child's welfare and educational status, including school activities; 
6. to attend school activities; 
7. to be designated on the child's records as a person to be notified i n case of an emergency; 
8. to consent to medical, dental, and surgical treatment during an emergency involving an immediate danger to the health and safety of the child; and 
9. to manage the estate of the child to the extent the estate has been created by the parent or the parent's family.
    

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF PARENTS DURING PERIODS OF POSSESSION

Unless limited by court order, a parent appointed as a conservator of a child has the following rights and duties during the period that the parent has possession of the child: 

1. the duty of care, control, protection, and reasonable discipline of the child; 
2. the duty to support the child, including providing the child with clothing, food, shelter, and medical and dental care not involving an invasive procedure; 
3. the right to consent for the child to medical and dental care not involving an invasive procedure; and 
4. the right to direct the moral and religious training of the child.

RIGHTS AND DUTIES THAT MAY BE DIVIDED BETWEEN THE PARENTS

The Court will specify whether both parents will have these rights independently of each other, whether the parents must share these rights by making decisions by agreement, or whether the rights will be granted to one of the parties.

(a)  A parent of a child has the following rights and duties: 

1. the right to have physical possession, to direct the moral and religious training, and to designate the residence of the child; 
2. the duty of care, control, protection, and reasonable discipline of the child; 
3. the duty to support the child, including providing the child with clothing, food, shelter, medical and dental care, and education; 
4. the duty, except when a guardian of the child's estate has been appointed, to manage the estate of the child, including the right as an agent of the child to act in relation to the child's estate if the child's action is required by a state, the United States, or a foreign government; 
5. except as provided by Section 264.0111, the right to the services and earnings of the child; 
6. the right to consent to the child's marriage, enlistment in the armed forces of the United States, medical and dental care, and psychiatric, psychological, and surgical treatment; 
7. the right to represent the child in legal action and to make other decisions of substantial legal significance concerning the child; 
8. the right to receive and give receipt for payments for the support of the child and to hold or disburse funds for the benefit of the child; 
9. the right to inherit from and through the child; 
10. the right to make decisions concerning the child's education; and 
11. any other right or duty existing between a parent and child by virtue of law.

(b)  The duty of a parent to support his or her child exists while the child is an unemancipated minor and continues as long as the child is fully enrolled in an accredited secondary school in a program leading toward a high school diploma until the end of the school year in which the child graduates.