Texas law provides that the parents of a minor child must provide the child with clothing, food, shelter, medical care, education, and necessaries. See generally Fam. Code ss 4.02, 11.01, 12.04. Moreover, one is bound to support his children in a manner suitable to their circumstances in life, commensurate with his ability to pay for their support. Ordinarily, one is not obligated to support an adult child, but there are exceptions.
Consideration is, of course, a fundamental element of a valid contract.
Discharge of a legal duty is not consideration. Therefore, any contract between the department and the parents of a mentally disabled person, in order to be supported by sufficient consideration on the part of the parents, must be for the performance of services that the parents are not already legally obligated to provide. It is apparent that the scope and extent of a parent's duty to provide support may vary somewhat according to the circumstances of each individual situation. Because this opinion cannot anticipate or resolve fact questions which may arise concerning the scope of a parent's duty to provide necessaries to a child, we are limited to advising you on matters of law. However, it is possible to state as a matter of law that the provision of clothing, food, shelter, medical care, and education to one's minor child to whom one owes a duty of support is insufficient consideration to support a contract.