Do children have to be a certain age before they can be left alone at home?

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services publishes information about leaving a child home alone. They state the following:

Texas law doesn't say what age is old enough for a child to stay at home alone. However, adequate supervision is critical to keeping kids safe. An adult caregiver is accountable for the child's care and inadequate supervision can be a type of neglect (neglectful supervision).

The Texas Penal Code also makes it a criminal offense to leave a child alone in a vehicle under certain circumstances. Click here to review section 22.10 of the Texas Penal Code.

Can a 17-year-old move out and leave home?

There does not seem to be a clear, straightforward answer to this question in the Texas statutes. We highlight the complexities of this question on our research guide titled Can a Seventeen-Year-Old Leave Home? On that page you'll find links to opinions issued by the Texas Attorney General related to 17-year-olds.

We recommend contacting the Texas Youth & Runaway Hotline at 1-800-989-6884 for assistance with this question. They also offer an online youth chat and a text messaging service.

What is the age of consent for sexual activity in Texas? Is there a “Romeo and Juliet” law?

The Texas Penal Code does not include a statutory definition of “child” or “minor” that applies throughout the entire Penal Code (see Section 1.07 of the Code). Instead, specific statutes within the code provide definitions. For example, the laws on sexual assault and indecency with a child define a “child” as a person under the age of 17. These and other laws criminalize certain sexual activities regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child at the time of the offense. See:

• Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault) defines “child” as “a person younger than 17 years of age”.
• Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child) identifies a child as “younger than 17 years of age, whether the child is of the same or opposite sex and regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child at the time of the offense”.
• Section 33.021 (Online Solicitation of a Minor) defines “minor” as “an individual who is younger than 17 years of age” or “an individual whom the actor believes to be younger than 17 years of age”.

However, a few other statutes that address minors and sexual activity set the minimum age at 18 years:

• Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child) defines “child” as “younger than 18 years of age”.
• Section 43.261 (Electronic Transmission of Certain Visual Material Depicting Minor) defines “minor” as “a person younger than 18 years of age”.

“Romeo and Juliet” Laws

“Romeo and Juliet” laws generally refer to provisions in law that provide an affirmative defense to criminal prosecution in consensual cases where both actors are similar in age. There is no single “Romeo and Juliet” law, but several sections of the Penal Code contain these kinds of provisions. It is important to read these laws carefully because they are very specific about when they apply. For example:

• Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault) provides an affirmative defense for an actor “not more than three years older than the victim”, as long as the victim “was a child of 14 years of age or older”, along with several other requirements.
• Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child) provides an affirmative defense for an actor “not more than three years older than the victim and of the opposite sex” who “did not use duress, force, or a threat against the victim” and “was not required to register for life as a sex offender”, along with other exceptions and requirements.
• Section 33.021 (Online Solicitation of a Minor) includes a defense for an actor who “was not more than three years older than the minor” if “the minor consented to the conduct”.
• Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child) provides an affirmative defense for a defendant who is “not more than two years older than the child”.
• Section 43.261 (Electronic Transmission of Certain Visual Material Depicting Minor) provides an affirmative defense for an actor “who is not more than two years older or younger than the actor and with whom the actor had a dating relationship at the time of the offense”, among other provisions.

A “Romeo and Juliet” provision is also found in Section 42.017 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which offers protection from having to register as a sex offender for a person convicted of an offense under Texas Penal Code Section 21.11 or 22.011. Please note that the age requirements found in this statute are different than those in Section 21.11 or 22.011:

(1) at the time of the offense, the defendant was not more than four years older than the victim or intended victim and the victim or intended victim was at least 15 years of age; and
(2) the conviction is based solely on the ages of the defendant and the victim or intended victim at the time of the offense.

Additionally, a person who was convicted of an offense under Texas Penal Code Section 21.11 or 22.011 and required to register as a sex offender before September 1, 2011, may be able to petition the court for an order exempting them from registration if they are eligible under Article 62.301 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

Can a minor legally emancipate themselves from their parents? What is emancipation?

Section 129.001 of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code establishes the “age of majority” to be 18 years of age. The laws regarding a minor emancipating themselves (described in the law as the “removal of disabilities of minority”) are found in chapter 31 of the Texas Family Code. The statutes in that chapter set out the requirements needed for a minor to petition the court for the removal of the disabilities of minority. Section 31.001 states:

Sec. 31.001. REQUIREMENTS. (a) A minor may petition to have the disabilities of minority removed for limited or general purposes if the minor is:
  (1) a resident of this state;
  (2) 17 years of age, or at least 16 years of age and living separate and apart from the minor's parents, managing conservator, or guardian; and
  (3) self-supporting and managing the minor's own financial affairs.
(b) A minor may file suit under this chapter in the minor's own name. The minor need not be represented by next friend.

TexasLawHelp.org has an FAQ page with answers to many common questions about legal emancipation, including information on its general effects, what is included in a petition for removal of disabilities of minority, and other considerations. 

The Houston Bar Association publishes a Family Law Handbook that also has information about this procedure. See the "Removal of a Child's Legal Disabilities" section of their Family Law Handbook.

For more in-depth information and examples of legal forms related to emancipation, you may be interested in Objective U: Emancipating a Minor in volume 4 of Texas Family Law Practice and Procedure, a set of e-books available to registered library patrons. To register for a free library account online, please see our Get a Library Account page.

Our research guide Can a seventeen-year-old leave home? also has more information and resources on Texas laws that are relevant to minors.

What forms do I need for a stepparent adoption? 

Legally adopting a child requires petitioning a court for the adoption. In general, the stepparent and the spouse request the termination of the other biological parent's rights along with an order of adoption. In addition to other considerations, the court must consider whether the adoption would be in the “best interest of the child,” a legal standard used in court proceedings that involve children. TexasLawHelp.org publishes an article on adoption law that answers common questions about adoptions in Texas, including stepparent adoptions.

There are no standard, fill-in-the-blank forms for a stepparent adoption. The state does not publish any templates, drafting guides, or examples on how to proceed. Each adoption is unique and involves the termination of a biological parent's rights, so it is difficult to create a simple form to use in the courts. One option is to hire an attorney who can guide you through the proceedings and file paperwork on your behalf. If you instead wish to proceed on your own, without an attorney, our library offers access to resources that might help you as you prepare.

Texas Family Law Practice and Procedure, a set of e-books available through our library, contains information and drafting guides that help you create legal forms related to adoption. Volume 4, Task T3, “Initiating Child Adoption Proceedings,” goes over adoption proceedings, including those where a stepparent will be adopting the child. Section T3.103, “Original Petition for Termination and Adoption by Stepparent,” contains an example form. If you are a Texas resident and wish to access these e-books, you can create a library account online! Your local county law library may also have these books or similar resources. In Austin, our library also has print resources that may help.

To read the laws that set out the adoption process in Texas, see chapter 162 of the Family Code. The library also publishes several research guides with information and resources on various family law topics, including a child custody and support research guide and a termination of parental rights research guide.

Since we are librarians and not attorneys, we cannot determine what forms would be appropriate to file for your situation. An attorney can recommend the best course of action for you to take, so please see our Find an Attorney page for resources on locating an attorney.