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Grandparents and Other Third Parties
(Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship)

PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS

A. Statute
Standing is conferred to prospective adoptive parents in Texas Family Code sections 102.003(a)(14) and 102.0035. An original suit may be filed at any time by a person who has been named as a prospective adoptive parent of a child by a pregnant woman or the parent of the child, in a verified written statement to confer standing executed under Section 102.0035, regardless of whether the child has been born. Tex.Fam.Code §102.003(a)(14). A statement to confer standing is governed by § 102.0035. A pregnant woman or a parent of a child may execute a statement to confer standing to a prospective adoptive parent as provided by this section to assert standing under Section 102.003(a)(14). A statement to confer standing under this section may not be executed in a suit brought by a governmental entity under Chapter 262 or 263.

A statement to confer standing must contain
(1) the signature, name, age, and address of the person named as a prospective adoptive parent;
(2) the signature, name, age, and address of the pregnant woman or of the parent of the child who is consenting to the filing of a petition for adoption or to terminate the parent-child relationship as described by Subsection (a);
(3) the birth date of the child or the anticipated birth date if the child has not been born; and
(4) the name of the county in which the suit will be filed.

The statement to confer standing must be attached to the petition in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship and may be signed at any time during the pregnancy of the mother of the unborn child whose parental rights are to be terminated. The statement may not be used for any purpose other than to confer standing in a proceeding for adoption or to terminate the parent-child relationship. A statement to confer standing is not required in a suit brought by a person who has standing to file a suit affecting the parent-child relationship under Sections 102.003(a)(1)-(13) or any other law under which the person has standing to file a suit. A person who executes a statement to confer standing may revoke the statement at any time before the person executes an affidavit for voluntary relinquishment of parental rights. The revocation of the statement must be in writing and must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the prospective adoptive parent. On filing with the court proof of the delivery of the revocation of a statement to confer standing under Subsection (f), the court shall dismiss any suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the prospective adoptive parent named in the statement.

B. Cases
1. In the Interest of S.S.G., S.W.3d (Tex.App.- Amarillo 2006, no pet.) In this case, the court reminds us that an analysis of standing is an analysis of subject matter jurisdiction, and thus, is a threshold issue and a question of law. In analyzing standing, the court must construe the pleadings in favor of the petitioner. In S.S.G., the prospective adoptive parents obtained possession of the child during a pending termination, which was then reversed on appeal. They filed a second suit as a SAPCR, claiming standing from their "actual care, control and possession" of the child. The question became whether they had acquired standing through an invalid order, in violation of previous precedent. Perez v. Williamson, 726 S.W.2d 634 (Tex. App. -Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, no writ) (standing cannot be created by violating a valid court order). The question here was whether a court order that was reversed on appeal was a "valid court order." The court found that the rendition of judgment in favor of the parents in the termination case of their parental rights and the appointment of the appellants as the managing conservators in the termination case nullified the trial court's termination of their parental rights and the appointment of the managing conservators, however, since neither the trial court nor the appellate court issued an order requiring the "Grandparents And Other Third Parties Chapter 22 10" adoptive parents to surrender the child to the parents, the appellate court found that the prospective adoptive parents' continued possession of the child did not violate a court order, and accordingly, the adoptive parents had standing to file the SAPCR.