Third party custody can happen if parties agree to such a delegation of rights, as well as when a child's biological parents have their parental rights terminated, when said parents are declared unfit to care for their child, or when parents choose to give up their parental rights voluntarily. In Texas, in a post-In re C.J.C. world, how do we grapple with custody issues regarding minor children when the best candidate for conservatorship is not a parent? In the recent case of In the Interest of I.S.P., the First District Court of Appeals dealt with such issues. The key question: How can an attorney prove standing and privity, particularly when a child is not yet six months of age when litigation begins? 

I.S.P.'s father died prior to the child's birth. Within days of the birth, his paternal grandmother filed a suit affecting the parent-child relationship, seeking possession of or access to I.S.P. The paternal grandmother alleged that I.S.P.'s mother abused alcohol and drugs during the mother's pregnancy. The grandmother also alleged that denying her access to I.S.P. would "significantly impair" I.S.P.'s physical health and/or emotional well-being. The mother filed a motion to dismiss the paternal grandmother's pleadings, arguing that the paternal grandmother lacked standing. The mother also took the party line established in the Texas Supreme Court's holding in In re C.J.C.: that a parent has a constitutional right to determine who will be allowed to be around his or her child. The mother also asserted that the supporting affidavit attached to the paternal grandmother's pleadings was full of hearsay, and further, that the grandmother had no firsthand knowledge as to the mother's conduct during pregnancy. The trial court granted the mother's motion to dismiss. Following the dismissal of her suit affecting the parent-child relationship, the paternal grandmother appealed.