Grandparents must meet certain requirements to receive conservatorship.
The differences between grandparent adoption and grandparent guardianship (conservatorship) in Texas can be a bit confusing. Each has lots of specific requirements that change with different situations.
Adoption
Children in the adoptive system come from many kinds of backgrounds.
In Texas, an adopted child's birth certificate and records are changed to reflect the legal (adopting) parents' names. To qualify to adopt, grandparents must be financially stable, have references from relatives and non-relatives, provide information on their general lifestyle and pass a criminal history check and a home study. The grandparents may be asked to complete Parent Resource for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE), a 35-hour competency program that ensures they know care for children from various backgrounds.
Guardianship/Conservatorship
Gaining conservatorship status is easier when the child knows the grandparent well.
A grandparent who has custody of his grandchild is the child's managing conservator. If a child's parents are deceased, then a grandparent is free to file a lawsuit for custody or may be appointed custody by courts without a lawsuit. If the child's parents are alive, then a grandparent can file a custody lawsuit under specific circumstances. For example, a grandparent can sue for custody when the child is in a dangerous situation and can sue with the consent of the child's parent or current guardian, according to Section 02.004 of Texas Family Code. If a custody lawsuit is under way, a grandparent may try to intercede.
Similarities and Differences
The main difference between a grandparent having conservatorship (custody) of a child and a non-relative adopting a child is the legal status of the birth parent. In conservatorship, that does not change, but it does with adoption. A grandparent of a child can adopt her grandchild, but the records are changed to reflect the adoption. In certain situations, it is easier for a grandparent to obtain conservatorship status of a grandchild than to adopt the grandchild.
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