Texas Family Code Title 5, Chapter 162 - Adoption

SUBCHAPTER A ADOPTION OF A CHILD

• Texas Section 162.001 - Who May Adopt And Be Adopted
  (a) Subject to the requirements for standing to sue in Chapter 102, an adult may petition to adopt a child who may be adopted. (b)...
• Texas Section 162.002 - Prerequisites To Petition
  (a) If a petitioner is married, both spouses must join in the petition for adoption. (b) A petition in a suit for adoption or a...
• Texas Section 162.0025 - Adoption Sought By Military Service Member
  In a suit for adoption, the fact that a petitioner is a member of the armed forces of the United States, a member of the...
• Texas Section 162.003 - Adoption Evaluation
  In a suit for adoption, an adoption evaluation must be conducted as provided in Chapter 107. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec....
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 162.006 - Access To Health, Social, Educational, And Genetic History Report; Retention
  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....
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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,...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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,...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...

SUBCHAPTER B INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN

• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...

SUBCHAPTER C INTERSTATE COMPACT ON ADOPTION AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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,...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...

SUBCHAPTER D ADOPTION SERVICES BY THE DEPARTMENT OF

• Texas Section 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,...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...

SUBCHAPTER E VOLUNTARY ADOPTION REGISTRIES

• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 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...
• Texas Section 162.404 - Requirement To Send Information To Central Registry
  An authorized agency that is permitted to provide a registry under this subchapter or that participates in a mutual consent voluntary adoption registry with an...
• Texas Section 162.405 - Determination Of Appropriate Registry
  (a) The administrator of the central registry shall determine the appropriate registry to which an applicant is entitled to apply. (b) On receiving an inquiry...
• Texas Section 162.406 - Registration Eligibility
  (a) An adoptee who is 18 years of age or older may apply to a registry for information about the adoptee's birth parents and biological...
• Texas Section 162.407 - Registration
  (a) The administrator shall require each registration applicant to sign a written application. (b) An adoptee adopted or placed through an authorized agency may register...
• Texas Section 162.408 - Proof Of Identity
  The rules and minimum standards of the Department of State Health Services for the vital statistics unit must provide for proof of identity in order...
• Texas Section 162.409 - Application
  (a) An application must contain: (1) the name, address, and telephone number of the applicant; (2) any other name or alias by which the applicant...
• Texas Section 162.411 - Fees
  (a) The costs of establishing, operating, and maintaining a registry may be recovered in whole or in part through users' fees charged to applicants and...
• Texas Section 162.412 - Supplemental Information
  (a) A registrant may amend the registrant's registration and submit additional information to the administrator. A registrant shall notify the administrator of any change in...
• Texas Section 162.413 - Counseling
  The applicant must participate in counseling for not less than one hour with a social worker or mental health professional with expertise in postadoption counseling...
• Texas Section 162.414 - Matching Procedures
  (a) The administrator shall process each registration in an attempt to match the adoptee and the adoptee's birth parents or the adoptee and the adoptee's...
• Texas Section 162.416 - Disclosure Of Identifying Information
  (a) When a match has been made and confirmed to the administrator's satisfaction, the administrator shall mail to each registrant, at the registrant's last known...
• Texas Section 162.419 - Registry Records Confidential
  (a) All applications, registrations, records, and other information submitted to, obtained by, or otherwise acquired by a registry are confidential and may not be disclosed...
• Texas Section 162.420 - Rulemaking
  (a) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall make rules and adopt minimum standards for the Department of State Health Services...
• Texas Section 162.421 - Prohibited Acts; Criminal Penalties
  (a) This subchapter does not prevent the Department of State Health Services from making known to the public, by appropriate means, the existence of voluntary...

SUBCHAPTER F ADOPTION OF AN ADULT

• Texas Section 162.422 - Immunity From Liability
  (a) The Department of State Health Services or authorized agency establishing or operating a registry is not liable to any person for obtaining or disclosing...
• Texas Section 162.501 - Adoption Of Adult
  The court may grant the petition of an adult residing in this state to adopt another adult according to this subchapter. Added by Acts 1995,...
• Texas Section 162.502 - Jurisdiction
  The petitioner shall file a suit to adopt an adult in the district court or a statutory county court granted jurisdiction in family law cases...
• Texas Section 162.503 - Requirements Of Petition
  (a) A petition to adopt an adult shall be entitled "In the Interest of __________, An Adult." (b) If the petitioner is married, both spouses...
• Texas Section 162.504 - Consent
  A court may not grant an adoption unless the adult consents in writing to be adopted by the petitioner. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg.,...
• Texas Section 162.505 - Attendance Required
  The petitioner and the adult to be adopted must attend the hearing. For good cause shown, the court may waive this requirement, by written order,...
• Texas Section 162.506 - Adoption Order
  (a) The court shall grant the adoption if the court finds that the requirements for adoption of an adult are met. (b) Notwithstanding that both...

SUBCHAPTER G MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 162.507 - Effect Of Adoption
  (a) The adopted adult is the son or daughter of the adoptive parents for all purposes. (b) The adopted adult is entitled to inherit from...
• Texas Section 162.601 - Incentives For Licensed Child-placing Agencies
  (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the Department of Family and Protective Services shall pay, in addition to any other amounts due, a monetary...
• Texas Section 162.602 - Documentation To Accompany Petition For Adoption Or Annulment Or Revocation Of Adoption
  At the time a petition for adoption or annulment or revocation of adoption is filed, the petitioner shall also file completed documentation that may be...

Last modified: September 28, 2016