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Horvatich v. Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services

The trial court must find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the parent has engaged in one of the grounds for termination and that termination is in the best interest of the child.

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Sarah Horvatich appeals a decree of termination of her parental rights to her three children, G.H., J.H., and S.H. The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (the Department) filed an original petition for protection, conservatorship, and termination in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. �� 101.032, 161.001 (West 1996 & Supp. 2002). The Department sought to terminate the parental rights of Ms. Horvatich, Matthew Horvatich, father of J.H. and S.H., and Larry Strifely, father of G.H. After a one-day trial to the bench, the court ordered termination of all three parents’ rights. Ms. Horvatich alone appeals the order, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the decree of termination. We hold that the record contains factually insufficient evidence that termination of her parental rights is in the best interest of the children and accordingly reverse and remand this cause for a new trial.

Termination of Parental Rights

Section 161.001 sets out a two-pronged test for involuntary termination of the parent-child relationship. Id. � 161.001 (West Supp. 2002). The trial court must find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the parent has engaged in one of the grounds for termination and that termination is in the best interest of the child. Id.; Leal v. Texas Dep’t of Protective & Regulatory Servs., 25 S.W.3d 315, 318 (Tex. App.-Austin 2000, no pet.). Proof of one does not relieve the petitioner from establishing the other. Holley v. Adams, 544 S.W.2d 367, 370 (Tex. 1976). Parents’ rights to “the companionship, care, custody and management” of their children are protected to the degree that they are of “federal constitutional dimensions.” Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 758-59 (1982); In re D.T., 34 S.W.3d 625, 629 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 2000, pet. denied). In a termination case, the State seeks not merely to limit those rights but to end them finally and irrevocably-to divest the parent and child of all legal rights, privileges, duties, and powers normally existing between them, except for the child’s right to inherit. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. � 161.206(b) (1996); Holick v. Smith, 685 S.W.2d 18, 20 (Tex. 1985).

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