Texas Supremes: Father trumps mom's boyfriend in custody fight

A ruling from the Texas Supreme Court has granted a man custody rights to his young daughter after the mother, from whom he had separated, died in a car accident.

The ruling was praised by the Texas Home School Coalition as a victory for parental rights.

The issue was that the mother had been living with another man, and he had demanded in court essentially the same rights as the father.

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A spokesman for the THSC, which advocated for the father, explained the significance of the ruling.

The high court "overturned the decisions of all lower courts, and declared the biological father must have full, permanent custody of his daughter. In a decisive victory for parental rights, the court affirmed that parents are presumed to be fit and that the actions of fit parents are presumed to be in the best interests of their children."

The court decision made that clear.

"In awarding Jason (the mother's boyfriend) visitation and overnight possession over Abigail's father's objection, the trial court essentially substituted its determination of Abigail's best interest for her father's, stating, 'The court has determined what is in [Abigail's] best interest, and you are to make this as agreeable as you can force yourself to do.'"

The state Supreme Court rejected that.

The documents affirm that there was no allegation that Abigail's father was somehow not fit to make decisions for her. Still, lower courts had ordered the boyfriend also to have authority to make decisions for her.

The THSC said, "The Supreme Court of Texas reaffirmed the longstanding constitutional rules that parents are presumed to be fit and that the actions of fit parents are presumed to be in the best interests of their children."

The case, had it been decided another way, could have had "parents in Texas … opened up to possible lawsuits from a slew of non-parents."

THSC had launched a video campaign insisting that the courts #LetHerStay with her father.

The little girl had lived with her mother, with regular visits to her father, before the mother's death. After the accident, she lived with her father. That was challenged by the mother's boyfriend.

As the dispute developed in court, Jeremy Newman, director of public policy for the THSC, said, ""It's hard to imagine that a court of law would ever have to decide that a perfectly-fit father does not have the right to raise his own little girl, yet that's exactly what's at stake."

"If this case goes the wrong way, it could set a terrifying precedent in which courts in the future don't have to favor parents in custody battles," he said. "Anyone, regardless of family status, could lay claim to a child."

Among those supporting the petition effort were Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Michael Farris of the Alliance Defending Freedom, Jim Mason of the Parental Rights Foundation and Trayce Bradford of the Texas Eagle Forum.