In the Interest of L. L. K.

DODSON, Justice.

In this appeal, we determine that the grandparents may not maintain an independent suit for access to their grandchild under section 14.03(d) of the Texas Family Code, unless a managing conservator is appointed for the child under section 14.03(a) of the Code.

Willis T. Winton, the step-grandfather, and Jean Winton, the maternal grandmother, instituted this independent action seeking appointment as possessory conservators of and for access to their grandchild. Dre-na Jean Nail, the natural mother of the child, answered by a motion to dismiss alleging, inter alia, that the…