In Re AMS

277 S.W.3d 92, 2009 WL 78135
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 14, 2009
Docket06-08-00067-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 277 S.W.3d 92 (In Re AMS) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re AMS, 277 S.W.3d 92, 2009 WL 78135 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

277 S.W.3d 92 (2009)

In the Interest of A.M.S., a Child.

No. 06-08-00067-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Texarkana.

Submitted December 1, 2008.
Decided January 14, 2009.

*95 Peter E. Ryba, Attorney At Law, Shephard, TX, for appellant.

Charles C. Dickerson, Attorney At Law, Carthage, TX, for appellee.

Before MORRISS, C.J., CARTER and MOSELEY, JJ.

OPINION

Opinion by Justice CARTER.

Natalie Thompson and Mitchell Singletary appeal the final order of the trial court appointing Darlene and Larry Lowe as nonparent joint managing conservators of A.M.S., the daughter of Thompson and Singletary. Darlene, the child's paternal aunt, and her husband, Larry Lowe, filed a verified petition in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship (SAPCR) seeking to be appointed joint managing conservators of the child. In the petition, the Lowes attest that the child, who was less than two months old at the time, was suffering from malnutrition[1] and state "both parents of the child, will consent, or have consented to this suit being filed." Thompson and Singletary represented themselves pro se in the trial court.[2] Thompson, Singletary, and the Lowes agreed in open court and on the record to the order appointing the Lowes as joint managing conservators. The trial court entered a final order in accordance with the agreement. After the entry of the order, Thompson and Singletary retained counsel and filed a motion for new trial alleging the Lowes lacked standing to file the petition. The trial court denied the motion. Thompson and Singletary bring this appeal alleging the Lowes lacked standing to file the petition.

Standing is a constitutional prerequisite to maintaining a suit under Texas law. Tex. Ass'n of Bus. v. Tex. Air Control Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 444 (Tex.1993). Standing, as a necessary component of a court's subject-matter jurisdiction, cannot be conferred by consent or waiver and can be raised for the first time on appeal. Id. at 443; see Mapco, Inc. v. Forrest, 795 S.W.2d 700, 703 (Tex.1990); In re Guardianship of Erickson, 208 S.W.3d 737, 740 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2006, orig. proceeding). When standing is challenged for the first time on appeal, appellate courts "must construe the petition in favor of the party, and if necessary, review the entire record to determine if any evidence supports standing."[3]Tex. Ass'n of Bus., 852 *96 S.W.2d at 446. We review de novo a challenge to a party's standing. Tex. DOT v. City of Sunset Valley, 146 S.W.3d 637, 646 (Tex.2004).

In addition to the constitutional limitations on standing, the Texas Family Code contains additional restrictions on who may bring suit. The Texas Legislature "has provided a comprehensive statutory framework for standing in the context of suits involving the parent-child relationship." In re H.G., 267 S.W.3d 120 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 2008, pet. denied). Section 102.004(a) of the Texas Family Code provides as follows:

In addition to the general standing to file suit provided by Section 102.003, a grandparent, or another relative of the child related within the third degree by consanguinity, may file an original suit requesting managing conservatorship if there is satisfactory proof to the court that:
(1) the order requested is necessary because the child's present circumstances would significantly impair the child's physical health or emotional development; or
(2) both parents, the surviving parent, or the managing conservator or custodian either filed the petition or consented to the suit.

TEX. FAM.CODE ANN. § 102.004(a) (Vernon Supp.2008).

Thompson and Singletary argue the Lowes lacked standing because 1) there is no evidence of circumstances endangering the child's physical health, 2) no evidence the parents consented to the petition, and 3) the trial court's interpretation of Section 102.004(a)(2) is unconstitutional. In their petition, the Lowes alleged standing to file suit under both subsection (a)(1) and subsection (a)(2). On appeal, the Lowes argue they have standing under subsection (a)(2).[4] We will first examine the constitutional challenge to Section 102.004(a)(2). Concluding the trial court's interpretation of Section 102.004 was both correct and constitutional, we will then consider whether both Darlene and Larry had standing under Section 102.004.

I. Section 102.004 Is Constitutional and Permits Consent After the Filing of the Petition

Thompson and Singletary argue, if we interpret Section 102.004(a)(2) to permit a parent to consent to the suit after the petition has been filed, Section *97 102.004(a)(2) will be unconstitutional because a party cannot waive subject-matter jurisdiction. According to Thompson and Singletary, a party could constitutionally consent to standing prior to the filing of the suit, and they urge this Court to interpret Section 102.004(a)(2) to require consent prior to filing suit. The constitutional standing requirement "stems from two limitations on subject matter jurisdiction: the separation of powers doctrine and, in Texas, the open courts provision." Tex. Ass'n of Bus., 852 S.W.2d at 443. Thompson and Singletary argue that permitting a party to consent after the filing of the petition violates both the open courts provision and the separation of powers doctrine.

The open courts provision of the Texas Constitution provides, "[a]ll courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him, in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law." TEX. CONST. art. I, § 13. The provision has been interpreted to contain three separate constitutional guarantees: 1) "courts must actually be open and operating," 2) "citizens must have access to those courts unimpeded by unreasonable financial barriers," 3) "the legislature may not abrogate the right to assert a well-established common law cause of action." See Tex. Ass'n of Bus., 852 S.W.2d at 448.

The separation of powers doctrine prohibits one branch of government from exercising a power inherently belonging to another branch. See id. at 444; TEX. CONST. art. II, § 1. The separation of powers doctrine is violated "only when the functioning of the judicial process in a field constitutionally committed to the control of the courts is interfered with by the executive or legislative branches." Gen. Servs. Comm'n v. Little-Tex Insulation Co., 39 S.W.3d 591, 600 (Tex.2001); State Bd. of Ins. v. Betts, 158 Tex. 83, 308 S.W.2d 846, 851-52 (1958); see TEX. CONST. art. II, § 1. In the context of standing, the separation of powers article prohibits courts from issuing advisory opinions, an opinion that decides an abstract question of law without binding the parties. Tex.

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In the Interest of A.M.S., a Child
277 S.W.3d 92 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
277 S.W.3d 92, 2009 WL 78135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ams-texapp-2009.