Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2494 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R5287 KKA-F
2	2	By: Dunnam H.B. No. 2494
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the termination of the parent-child relationship and
8	8	the duty to pay child support in circumstances involving mistaken
9	9	paternity.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 154.006(a), Family Code, is amended to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	(a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly
14	14	provided in the order or as provided by Subsection (b), the child
15	15	support order terminates on:
16	16	(1) the marriage of the child;
17	17	(2) the removal of the child's disabilities for
18	18	general purposes;
19	19	(3) the death of the child;
20	20	(4) a finding by a court that the child:
21	21	(A) is 18 years of age or older; and
22	22	(B) has failed to comply with the enrollment or
23	23	attendance requirements described by Section 154.002(a);
24	24	(5) the issuance under Section 161.005(h) of an order
25	25	terminating the parent-child relationship between the obligor and
26	26	the child based on the results of genetic testing that exclude the
27	27	obligor as the child's genetic father; or
28	28	(6) [(5)] if the child enlists in the armed forces of
29	29	the United States, the date on which the child begins active service
30	30	as defined by 10 U.S.C. Section 101.
31	31	SECTION 2. Section 161.005, Family Code, is amended by
32	32	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c)-(j) to read as
33	33	follows:
34	34	(a) A parent may file a suit for termination of the
35	35	petitioner's parent-child relationship. Except as provided by
36	36	Subsection (h), the [The] court may order termination if
37	37	termination is in the best interest of the child.
38	38	(c) Subject to Subsection (d), a man may file a suit for
39	39	termination of the parent-child relationship between the man and a
40	40	child if the man signed an acknowledgment of paternity of the child
41	41	in accordance with Subchapter D, Chapter 160, or was adjudicated to
42	42	be the father of the child in a previous proceeding under this title
43	43	in which genetic testing did not occur. The petition must be
44	44	verified, and must allege facts showing that the petitioner:
45	45	(1) is not the child's genetic father; and
46	46	(2) signed the acknowledgment of paternity or failed
47	47	to contest parentage in the previous proceeding because of the
48	48	mistaken belief, at the time the acknowledgment was signed or on the
49	49	date the court order in the previous proceeding was rendered, that
50	50	he was the child's genetic father based on misrepresentations that
51	51	led him to that conclusion.
52	52	(d) A man may not file a petition under Subsection (c) if:
53	53	(1) the man is the child's adoptive father;
54	54	(2) the child was conceived by assisted reproduction
55	55	and the man consented to assisted reproduction by his wife under
56	56	Subchapter H, Chapter 160; or
57	57	(3) the man is the intended father of the child under a
58	58	gestational agreement validated by a court under Subchapter I,
59	59	Chapter 160.
60	60	(e) A petition under Subsection (c) must be filed not later
61	61	than the first anniversary of the date on which the petitioner
62	62	becomes aware of the acts alleged in the petition indicating that
63	63	the petitioner is not the child's genetic father.
64	64	(e-1) Subsection (e) applies beginning September 1, 2010.
65	65	Before that date, a petition may be filed under Subsection (c)
66	66	regardless of the date on which the petitioner became aware of the
67	67	acts alleged in the petition indicating that the petitioner is not
68	68	the child's genetic father. This subsection expires September 1,
69	69	2011.
70	70	(f) In a proceeding initiated under Subsection (c), the
71	71	court shall hold a pretrial hearing to determine whether the
72	72	petitioner has established a meritorious prima facie case for
73	73	termination of the parent-child relationship. If a meritorious
74	74	prima facie claim is established, the court shall order the
75	75	petitioner and the child to submit to genetic testing under
76	76	Subchapter F, Chapter 160.
77	77	(g) If the results of genetic testing ordered under
78	78	Subsection (f) identify the petitioner as the child's genetic
79	79	father under the standards prescribed by Section 160.505 and the
80	80	results of any further testing requested by the petitioner and
81	81	ordered by the court under Subchapter F, Chapter 160, do not exclude
82	82	the petitioner as the child's genetic father, the court shall deny
83	83	the petitioner's request for termination of the parent-child
84	84	relationship.
85	85	(h) If the results of genetic testing ordered under
86	86	Subsection (f) exclude the petitioner as the child's genetic
87	87	father, the court shall render an order terminating the
88	88	parent-child relationship.
89	89	(i) An order under Subsection (h) terminating the
90	90	parent-child relationship ends the petitioner's obligation for
91	91	future support of the child as of the date the order is rendered.
92	92	The order does not affect the petitioner's obligations for support
93	93	of the child incurred before that date or the petitioner's
94	94	obligation to pay interest that accrues after that date on the basis
95	95	of child support arrearages existing on that date. Those
96	96	obligations are enforceable until satisfied by any means available
97	97	for the enforcement of child support other than contempt.
98	98	(j) An order under Subsection (h) terminating the
99	99	parent-child relationship does not preclude the establishment of
100	100	another man as the child's genetic father.
101	101	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
102	102	154.006, Family Code, apply to an order for child support
103	103	regardless of whether the order was rendered before, on, or after
104	104	the effective date of this Act.
105	105	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
106	106	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
107	107	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
108	108	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
109	109	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.