How to File a Petition to Terminate Parental Rights in Texas

To file a petition to terminate parental rights in Texas, you must have standing under the Family Code, file in the county where the child resides, identify at least one statutory ground in the petition, serve every parent whose rights could be affected, and then prove both the ground and the child’s best interest by clear and convincing evidence. That standard is higher than the ordinary civil “more likely than not” bar, and it exists because termination permanently severs the legal parent-child relationship.¹

Confirm You Have Standing

Texas limits who can file. Under Section 102.003, the people and entities with standing to bring an original suit include a parent, the Department of Family and Protective Services, a court-appointed guardian or custodian, a person with court-ordered access, a licensed child-placing agency, a prospective adoptive parent named in a verified written statement, and an alleged father filing under Chapter 160.²

Two time-based categories catch many private filers. A foster parent, relative, or DFPS-designated caregiver has standing if the child has been placed in their home for at least 12 months, ending no more than 90 days before the filing date. A foster parent approved to adopt the child can file at any time after that approval. Someone else who has had exclusive care, control, and possession of the child for at least six months, ending no more than 90 days before filing, also has standing. Neither the 12-month nor the 6-month window has to be continuous; the court looks at where the child primarily lived during the relevant period.²

If you don’t fit one of these categories, the case gets dismissed before anyone reaches the merits. Check this first.

Choose the Grounds You Will Prove

Standing gets you into court. Winning requires proving at least one of the grounds listed in Section 161.001 and, separately, that termination is in the child’s best interest. Both findings must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.³

The statute lists more than 20 grounds. A few show up in most cases.

Abandonment

Abandonment covers three related fact patterns. A parent who leaves the child with someone else and expresses no intent to return meets the first. A parent who leaves without stating any intent to return, fails to provide support, and stays away at least three months meets the second. A parent who leaves, fails to support the child, and remains away for six months or longer meets the third, regardless of what they said about returning. The three-month version requires proof about both stated intent and lack of support; the six-month version does not require anything about stated intent.³

Endangerment

Texas recognizes two separate endangerment grounds. One targets the child’s environment: knowingly placing or allowing the child to stay in conditions that threaten the child’s physical or emotional well-being. The other targets the parent’s conduct, or the conduct of people the parent placed the child with, that endangers the child. The court does not need proof of actual harm. Drug use in the household, domestic violence, or dangerous living conditions can qualify if they show serious risk, and courts look at patterns rather than isolated incidents.³

Failure to Support

A parent who fails to support the child for a full year, ending within six months of the filing date, gives the court another ground. The failure is measured against the parent’s actual ability to pay, so a parent with genuinely no resources may have a defense.³

Other Grounds

Additional grounds include abandoning an infant without means of identification, abandoning a pregnant mother and then failing to support the child after birth, using controlled substances in a way that endangered the child and then failing to complete or relapsing after a court-ordered treatment program, and being convicted of certain serious criminal offenses. The full list is in Section 161.001. Your petition must specifically identify which grounds apply; you cannot allege them generally and fill in the details later.³

The Voluntary Relinquishment Path

If the parent whose rights are ending wants to give them up, usually because an adoption is planned, the case moves through a signed affidavit of relinquishment rather than a contested trial on statutory grounds. The affidavit cannot be signed until at least 48 hours after the child’s birth. It must be witnessed by two people and verified before someone authorized to administer oaths.⁴

Required contents include the parent’s name, county, and age; the child’s name, age, and birth date; whether the parent currently owes court-ordered child support; and a statement that termination is in the child’s best interest. The affidavit must also designate a prospective adoptive parent, DFPS, or a licensed child-placing agency to serve as the child’s managing conservator.⁴

One detail matters more than most people expect. The affidavit must say whether the relinquishment is revocable, irrevocable, or irrevocable for a set period. If revocable, the parent has only 10 days after signing to change their mind. The affidavit itself must contain a boldfaced notice of that deadline.

Where to File and What Goes in the Petition

File in the county where the child resides. The child’s residence is defined by where the parents live, or where the parent with actual care lives if the parents are in different counties. If the child lives with a non-parent and no conservator or guardian has been appointed, the child resides where that caretaker lives.⁵ If another Texas court already has continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the child from a prior custody or divorce case, you likely need to file there instead.

The petition must identify the child, the parents, and any existing court orders affecting the parent-child relationship. It must state the specific statutory ground or grounds and include enough factual detail to support each one. If adoption is being requested at the same time, the petition can be filed either in the county where the child resides or where the prospective adoptive parents reside.⁵

Filing requires a court fee that varies by county. Where fee schedules are published, family cases involving children generally run in the range of $300 to $400 once the base filing fee, family protection fee, and child support service fee are combined. If you can’t afford the fee, file an affidavit of indigence asking the court to waive it.

Serving Every Parent Whose Rights Could Be Affected

Due process requires formal notice. The petition and a citation explaining the response deadline must be delivered, typically through personal service by a process server or constable. Service must go to every parent whose rights have not already been terminated, any managing or possessory conservator, any person with court-ordered access, and any alleged father who has registered with the paternity registry.

If the other parent cannot be found, the court may authorize alternative service, but only after you document real efforts to locate them: checking last known addresses, contacting relatives, and searching public records. When all efforts fail, service by publication in a newspaper is the last resort. A parent served only by publication who doesn’t appear gets an added protection: the court may appoint an attorney ad litem to represent them.

If the Parent Is on Active Military Duty

The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets an active-duty service member request a stay of at least 90 days. If a default judgment is entered while the member was unable to appear because of military obligations, the member can ask the court to set that judgment aside and reopen the case. These protections are not automatic; the service member must request them. They generally run from the first day of active duty through 30 to 90 days after discharge.

ICWA if the Child Is Native American

If the child is a member of a federally recognized tribe, or is eligible for membership and has a parent who is a member, the federal Indian Child Welfare Act overrides parts of Texas procedure. Ignoring it can void the entire case.

ICWA notice goes by registered or certified mail with return receipt to the child’s parents, any Indian custodian, the designated ICWA agent for each tribe where the child is or may be enrolled, and the appropriate Bureau of Indian Affairs regional director. It must include identifying information for the child, birth parents, grandparents, and other direct ancestors, along with copies of the court filings and hearing dates.⁶

The burden of proof changes too. Instead of clear and convincing evidence, ICWA requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, including testimony from a qualified expert witness that leaving the child with the parent would likely cause serious emotional or physical harm.⁷ If termination leads to adoption, ICWA sets placement preferences favoring extended family, other tribal members, or other Indian families.

Getting a Lawyer and Who Else the Court Appoints

You are not required to have a lawyer to file. Given the procedural complexity and the stakes, most petitioners retain one anyway.

On the other side of the case, appointed counsel depends on who filed. When DFPS or another government entity brings the case and an indigent parent appears and opposes termination, the court must appoint an attorney ad litem for that parent. The parent files an affidavit of indigence, and the court considers income, assets, debts, and dependents. Once found indigent, the parent is presumed to remain so through any appeal.⁸ In a private termination (a stepparent adoption, for example), the respondent parent has no automatic right to appointed counsel.

The child also gets representation in government-initiated cases. The court must appoint both a guardian ad litem and an attorney ad litem immediately after the petition is filed.⁹¹⁰ The guardian ad litem investigates and recommends what serves the child’s interests, often through a CASA volunteer or social worker. The attorney ad litem is a licensed lawyer who represents the child’s expressed wishes. A single attorney can hold both roles, and if the two roles conflict, the court can split them.

The Hearing and the Burden of Proof

Either party can demand a jury trial. Many petitioners don’t realize this. A jury decides the factual questions — whether a statutory ground is proven and whether termination is in the child’s best interest — while the judge handles legal rulings.¹¹

Judge or jury, the standard is clear and convincing evidence: proof that produces a firm belief or conviction that the grounds exist and that ending the relationship serves the child.¹ Expect testimony from CPS caseworkers, therapists, teachers, medical professionals, and family members, along with the guardian ad litem’s report. If the respondent doesn’t appear after being properly served, the court can proceed, but the petitioner still has to meet the clear-and-convincing standard. A no-show is not an automatic win.

What the Order Does, and What It Doesn’t

A termination order permanently ends the legal parent-child relationship. The former parent loses custody, visitation, and decision-making authority over the child’s education, medical care, and upbringing. The duty to pay future child support ends when the judge signs the order.

Existing child support debt is not erased. Arrears that built up before termination remain collectible. Support also keeps accruing while the petition is pending; it stops only when the order is signed. If you’re the parent receiving support, notify the child support enforcement office once the order is signed so future collections beyond any remaining arrears stop.

Appeals and the Six-Month Wall

Appeals in termination cases run on an accelerated timeline. The final order must contain a bold, prominently displayed notice of the right to appeal and a warning that failing to follow the accelerated procedures can result in dismissal.¹² Delays of even a few days can cost the right.

Outside the appeal window, options collapse. A termination order generally becomes immune to challenge six months after signing, whether the parent was personally served, served by publication, or signed a voluntary relinquishment. After that, neither a direct attack in the same court nor a collateral attack in another proceeding is allowed. The narrow exception is a termination based on a voluntary relinquishment affidavit, which can still be challenged on fraud, duress, or coercion after the six months, though proving any of those is a steep climb.¹³

If you are the petitioner, that finality is what you want. If you’re the parent on the other side and you believe the order was wrongly entered, consult an appellate attorney within days of the ruling, not weeks.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 161.206 – Order Terminating Parental Rights
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 102.003 – General Standing to File Suit
3
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 161.001 – Involuntary Termination of Parent-Child Relationship
4
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 161.103 – Affidavit of Voluntary Relinquishment of Parental Rights
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 103.001 – Venue for Original Suit
6
Indian Affairs. ICWA Notice
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1912 – Pending Court Proceedings
8
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 107.013 – Mandatory Appointment of Attorney Ad Litem for Parent
9
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 107.011 – Mandatory Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem
10
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 107.012 – Mandatory Appointment of Attorney Ad Litem for Child
11
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 105.002 – Jury
12
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 263.405 – Appeal of Final Order
13
Texas Public Law. Texas Family Code 161.211 – Direct or Collateral Attack on Termination Order