Texas Attorney General Opinion: H-585 Page: 5 of 7
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The Honorable Raymond W. Vowell, page 5 (H- 585)
The definition must . . be viewed in that
context . . . [W]e must construe 'has not reached
the age of 21 years' to mean 'has not been emanci-
pated from the disabilities of minority. ... '
And see, Cook v. Employees Retirement System of Texas,514 S. W. 2d 329
(Tex. Civ. App. --Texarkana 1974, writ ref!d., n. r. e. )
However, not every statutory reference to "child" or "children" previously
meant "a person under the age of 21" or now means "a person under the age
of 18. " For instance, in Texas Probate Code, section 67(c), the term "children'
is defined to include "descendants of whatever degree they may be" without
reference to age.
Similarly, section 11. 01(1), Texas Family Code, now provides:
As used in this subtitle and Subtitle C of this
title, unless the context requires a different defini-
tion:
(1) 'Child' or 'minor' means a person under 18
years of age who is not and has not been married or
who has not had his disabilities of minority removed
for general purposes. 'Adult' means any other
person.
Although this definition may have an application beyond the Family Code, it
does not necessarily affect the particular definition of "dependent child"
in section 17, article 695c, V. T. C. S. In Ex parte Roloff, 510 S. W. 2d 913
(Tex. 1974), the Supreme Court held that "children" as used in section 8a,
article 695c, V. T. C.S., concerning child-care institutions, refers to children
under 16 years of age, and was unaffected in that regard by the enactment of the
18 Year Old Bill or the new Family Code.
In view of the Supreme Court's interpretation of section 8(a) of article
695c, and the purposes expressed by the enacting legislation, we are of the
opinion that in enacting sections 17 and 17-A of that article, the Legislature
did not intend "to confer rights and benefits dependent upon legal infancy, "
but instead intended (for other valid social reasons) to specify that certain
persons under 21 years of age would also qualify for the Texas AFDC programp. 2612
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: H-585, text, April 17, 1975; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth271109/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.