pjc-family-2024-lib

PJC 218.1

T ERMINATION OF P ARENT -C HILD R ELATIONSHIP

Answer “Yes” or “No.”

Answer: _______________

Form of submission. Tex. R. Civ. P. 277, as amended effective May 1, 2020, requires separate jury questions for each parent and each child on (1) each individual statutory ground for termination of the parent-child relationship and (2) whether termi nation of the parent-child relationship is in the best interest of the child. It further requires the best-interest question to be predicated on an affirmative finding of at least one termination ground. The supreme court’s order amending rule 277 explicitly supersedes Texas Department of Human Services v. E.B. , 802 S.W.2d 647 (Tex. 1990), in which the court had approved the broad-form submission of whether parental rights should be terminated. See Texas Supreme Court, Order Amending Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 277 , Misc. Docket No. 20-9008 (Jan. 8, 2020), 83 Tex. B.J. 104 (2020); Texas Supreme Court, Final Approval of Amendments to Texas Rule of Civil Proce dure 277 , Misc. Docket No. 20-9056 (Apr. 14, 2020), 83 Tex. B.J. 402 (2020). Selecting and wording relevant grounds for termination. Only those grounds for termination that are supported by the pleadings and evidence should be included in the relevant question in PJC 218.1B. For example, if the allegations for termination are based on Tex. Fam. Code § 161.001(b)(1)(E)—that the parent “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”—the question to the jury may be phrased in the statutory language. In re S.H.A. , 728 S.W.2d 73 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1987, no writ). In such a case, however, if a valid objection is raised that there is no evidence that the parent knowingly placed the child with persons who engaged in con duct , for example, then that portion of the question should be omitted. Cases involving the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The Committee expresses no opinion on whether, in a suit for termination of the parent child relationship filed by the Department of Family and Protective Services, Tex. Fam. Code § 161.001(f) would require the submission of additional questions.

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