When appointing a guardian for a child, the court will consider what is in the child’s best interest. According to the Texas Estates Code, certain people are statutorily ineligible to be appointed as guardian. These include:
- a minor;
- people whose conduct is notoriously inappropriate;
- an incapacitated person;
- a person who is a party or whose parent is a party to a lawsuit concerning or affecting the welfare of the proposed ward;
- a person indebted to the ward unless the person pays the debt before appointment;
- a person asserting a claim adverse to the proposed ward or the proposed ward’s property, real or personal;
- a person who because of inexperience, lack of education, or other good reason, is incapable of properly and prudently managing and controlling the ward or the ward’s estate;
- a person, institution, or corporation found unsuitable by the court; or
- a person disqualified in a declaration made by the ward prior to incapacity.
Not surprisingly, a court will presume that appointing a person who has been convicted of any sexual offense, sexual assault, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, injury to a child, to an elderly individual, or to a disabled individual, abandoning or endangering a child, or incest is not in the child’s best interest.
