Amends TCA Title 36.

Under present law, in a suit for annulment, divorce or separate maintenance where one party is a stepparent to a minor child born to the other party, the stepparent may be granted reasonable visitation rights to such child during the child's minority by the court of competent jurisdiction upon a finding that such visitation rights would be in the best interests of the minor child and that such stepparent is actually providing or contributing toward the support of such child.<br /> <br /> This bill revises the above-described present law provisions governing stepparent visitation. Under this bill, when a stepparent or former stepparent presents a petition, or a motion in a pending case to which the stepparent is a party, for visitation with the stepparent's stepchild or former stepchild, the court must set the matter for hearing if such visitation is opposed by a parent or custodian or if the stepparent's visitation has been severely reduced by the parent or custodian and any of the following circumstances exist:<br /> <br /> (1) The parent of the child to whom the stepparent was married is deceased;<br /> (2) The child's parent and the stepparent are divorced or are in the process of seeking a divorce;<br /> (3) The whereabouts of the child's parent to whom the stepparent is married are unknown;<br /> (4) The court of another state has ordered the visitation between the child and the stepparent; <br /> (5) The child resided in the home of the stepparent for a period of 12 months or more and was subsequently removed from the home by the parent or custodian. A 12-month relationship establishes a rebuttable presumption that denial of visitation may result in irreparable mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child;<br /> (6) The child and stepparent maintained a significant relationship for a period of 12 months or more immediately preceding severance or severe reduction of the relationship, the relationship was severed or severely reduced by the parent or custodian for reasons other than abuse or presence of danger of substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child, and the severance or severe reduction of this relationship is likely to cause substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child; or<br /> (7) There has been an unreasonable denial of visitation by a parent or custodian and the denial has caused the child severe mental, emotional, or physical harm.<br /> <br /> Under this bill, in considering a petition or motion for visitation, the court must make the following determinations:<br /> <br /> (1) The court must first determine the presence of a danger of substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child. This bill sets out in detail the facts upon which the court may make such a determination; and<br /> (2) Upon an initial finding of presence of a danger of substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child, the court must then determine whether the stepparent's visitation would be in the best interests of the child. This bill sets out in detail the factors to be considered in making such a determination. If the court determines that visitation would be in the best interests of the child, reasonable visitation may be ordered. <br /> <br /> ON APRIL 15, 2019, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 674, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 specifies that this bill authorizes courts to order stepparent visitation under certain circumstances, in extraordinary cases.<br /> <br /> GROUNDS FOR A HEARING<br /> <br /> This amendment revises one of the circumstances that supports setting a petition for stepparent visitation for a hearing, as described in (5) of the Bill Summary, to: "the child and petitioner maintained a significant relationship for a period of 12 months or more immediately preceding severance or severe reduction of the relationship, the relationship was severed or severely reduced by the parent or custodian for reasons other than abuse or presence of danger of substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child, and the severance or severe reduction of this relationship is likely to cause substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child.<br /> <br /> PRESENCE OF DANGER OF SUBSTANTIAL HARM<br /> <br /> Under this bill, a court may base the presence of a danger of substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child upon cessation or severe reduction of the relationship between an unmarried minor child and the stepparent if the court determines, upon sufficient evidence to prompt a reasonable person to believe, that the harm will occur more likely than not, and that:<br /> <br /> (1) The child had a significant existing relationship with the stepparent and that loss or severe reduction of the relationship is likely to occasion severe mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child or presents the danger of other direct and substantial harm to the child; or<br /> (2) The stepparent functioned as the full-time or primary caretaker such that cessation or severe reduction of the relationship could interrupt provision of the child's daily needs and thus occasion severe mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child or presents the danger of other direct and substantial harm to the child.<br /> <br /> Under this bill, a stepparent has a significant existing relationship with the child if:<br /> <br /> (1) The child resided with the stepparent for at least six consecutive months; or <br /> (2) The stepparent was the full-time or primary caregiver of the child for a period of not less than six consecutive months.<br /> <br /> This bill specifies that a stepparent has functioned as primary caregiver if the child resided with the petitioner more than one-half of the days each month before the relationship was severely reduced or terminated and the stepparent provided material support of the child.<br /> <br /> This bill specifies that a stepparent is not required to present the testimony or affidavit of an expert witness in order to establish a significant existing relationship with a child or that the loss or severe reduction of the relationship is likely to occasion substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child. Instead, this bill require a court to consider whether the facts of the particular case would lead a reasonable person to believe that there is a significant existing relationship between the stepparent and child or that the loss or severe reduction of the relationship is likely to cause substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child.<br /> <br /> This amendment rewrites this bill's provisions concerning determining the presence of a danger of substantial harm to a child when considering a petition or motion for stepparent visitation. <br /> <br /> This amendment clarifies that the purpose of a determination of the presence of a danger of substantial harm to the child is to consider the effect of what may occur if the requested visitation is not permitted by the court. Under this amendment, a finding of substantial harm may be based upon cessation or severe reduction of the contact between a minor child and the stepparent only if the court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the child had a significant existing relationship with the stepparent, and that loss of or severe reduction in contact is likely to occasion severe mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child or presents the danger of other direct and substantial harm to the child. Like this bill, this amendment specifies that a stepparent is not required to present an expert witness to establish a significant existing relationship with a child or that the loss or severe reduction of the contact is likely to cause substantial mental, emotional, or physical harm to the child.<br /> <br /> BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD<br /> <br /> The full text of this bill includes a nonexclusive list of 12 factors for a court to consider when determining the child's best interest when considering a petition or motion for stepparent visitation, one of which is any unreasonable deprivation of the petitioner's opportunity to visit with the child by the child's parent or custodian, including denying visitation of the child to the petitioner for a period exceeding 90 days. This amendment removes denial of visitation for a period exceeding 90 days by a parent or custodian as a specific example of unreasonable deprivation of a stepparent's opportunity to visit with a child.<br /> <br />