By: West S.B. No. 232
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures for rescinding or challenging an
acknowledgment or denial of paternity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 160.302, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An acknowledgment of paternity must:
(1) be in a record;
(2) be signed, or otherwise authenticated, under
penalty of perjury by the mother and the man seeking to establish
paternity;
(3) state that the child whose paternity is being
acknowledged:
(A) does not have a presumed father or has a
presumed father whose full name is stated; and
(B) does not have another acknowledged or
adjudicated father;
(4) state whether there has been genetic testing and,
if so, that the acknowledging man's claim of paternity is
consistent with the results of the testing; and
(5) state that the signatories understand that the
acknowledgment is the equivalent of a judicial adjudication of the
paternity of the child and that a challenge to the acknowledgment is
permitted only under limited circumstances [and is barred after
four years].
SECTION 2. Section 160.306, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.306. FILING FEE NOT REQUIRED. The bureau of vital
statistics may not charge a fee for filing:
(1) an acknowledgment of paternity;
(2) a [or] denial of paternity; or
(3) a rescission of an acknowledgment of paternity or
denial of paternity.
SECTION 3. Section 160.307, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.307. [PROCEEDING FOR] RESCISSION. (a) A
signatory may rescind an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of
paternity by filing a completed rescission under Subsection (b),
accompanied by the signed return receipts from each person required
to be notified under Subsection (b)(2), [commencing a proceeding to
rescind] before the earlier of:
(1) the 60th day after the effective date of the
acknowledgment or denial, as provided by Section 160.304; or
(2) the date of the first hearing in a proceeding to
which the signatory is a party before a court to adjudicate an issue
relating to the child, including a proceeding that establishes
child support.
(b) A signatory seeking to rescind an acknowledgment of
paternity or denial of paternity must file with the bureau of vital
statistics a completed rescission, on the form prescribed under
Section 160.312, in which the signatory declares under penalty of
perjury that:
(1) as of the date the rescission is filed, a court
hearing has not been held in a proceeding affecting the child
identified in the acknowledgment of paternity or denial of
paternity, including a proceeding to establish child support;
(2) a copy of the completed rescission was sent by
certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to:
(A) if the rescission is of an acknowledgment of
paternity, the other signatory of the acknowledgment of paternity
and the signatory of any related denial of paternity; or
(B) if the rescission is of a denial of
paternity, both signatories of the acknowledgment of paternity; and
(3) if the acknowledgment of paternity or denial of
paternity to be rescinded is filed in connection with a Title IV-D
case, a copy of the completed rescission was sent by certified or
registered mail to the Title IV-D agency.
(c) On receipt of a completed rescission, accompanied by the
signed return receipts from each person required to be notified
under Subsection (b)(2), the bureau of vital statistics shall void
the acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity affected by
the rescission and amend the birth record of the child, if
appropriate.
(d) Any party affected by the rescission, including the
Title IV-D agency, may contest the rescission by filing a
proceeding not later than the 60th day after the date on which the
rescission is filed with the bureau of vital statistics.
SECTION 4. Section 160.308, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(a) After the period for rescission under Section 160.307
has expired, a signatory of an acknowledgment of paternity or
denial of paternity may commence a proceeding to challenge the
acknowledgment or denial only on the basis of fraud, duress, or
material mistake of fact. Except as provided by Subsection (e),
the [The] proceeding must be commenced before the fourth
anniversary of the date the acknowledgment or denial is filed with
the bureau of vital statistics unless the signatory was a minor on
the date the signatory executed the acknowledgment or denial. If
the signatory was a minor on the date the signatory executed the
acknowledgment or denial, the proceeding must be commenced before
the earlier of the fourth anniversary of the date of:
(1) the signatory's 18th birthday; or
(2) the removal of the signatory's disabilities of
minority by court order, marriage, or by other operation of law.
(e) A proceeding authorized by Subsection (a) may be
commenced after the applicable deadline specified by that
subsection if, as of the date the proceeding is commenced, a court
has not rendered an order affecting the child identified in the
acknowledgment or denial of paternity, including an order relating
to support of the child.
SECTION 5. Section 160.309, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.309. PROCEDURE FOR CONTEST OF RESCISSION OR
CHALLENGE. (a) Each signatory to an acknowledgment of paternity
and any related denial of paternity must be made a party to a
proceeding to contest a rescission of [rescind] or challenge the
acknowledgment or denial of paternity.
(b) For purposes of the contest of the rescission of or [a]
challenge to an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity,
a signatory submits to the personal jurisdiction of this state by
signing the acknowledgment or denial. The jurisdiction is
effective on the filing of the document with the bureau of vital
statistics.
(c) Except for good cause shown, while a proceeding is
pending to contest a rescission of [rescind] or challenge an
acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of paternity, the court may
not suspend the legal responsibilities of a signatory arising from
the acknowledgment, including the duty to pay child support.
(d) A proceeding to contest a rescission of [rescind] or
[to] challenge an acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of
paternity shall be conducted in the same manner as a proceeding to
adjudicate parentage under Subchapter G.
(e) At the conclusion of a proceeding to contest a
rescission of [rescind] or challenge an acknowledgment of paternity
or a denial of paternity, the court shall order the bureau of vital
statistics to amend the birth record of the child, if appropriate.
SECTION 6. Section 160.312, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.312. FORMS [FOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND DENIAL OF
PATERNITY]. (a) To facilitate compliance with this subchapter,
the bureau of vital statistics shall prescribe forms for the:
(1) acknowledgment of paternity;
(2) [and the] denial of paternity; and
(3) rescission of an acknowledgment or denial of
paternity.
(b) A valid acknowledgment of paternity, [or] denial of
paternity, or rescission of an acknowledgment or denial of
paternity is not affected by a later modification of the prescribed
form.
SECTION 7. Section 160.313, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.313. RELEASE OF INFORMATION. The bureau of vital
statistics may release information relating to the acknowledgment
or denial of paternity or rescission of the acknowledgment or
denial of paternity to a signatory of the acknowledgment, [or]
denial, or rescission and to the courts and Title IV-D agency of
this or another state.
SECTION 8. Subsection (a), Section 160.609, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a child has an acknowledged father, a signatory to
the acknowledgment or denial of paternity may commence a proceeding
to contest the rescission of [seeking to rescind] the
acknowledgment or denial or to challenge the paternity of the child
only within the time allowed under Section 160.307 or 160.308.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an acknowledgment or denial of paternity that becomes effective on
or after the effective date of this Act. An acknowledgment or
denial of paternity that became effective before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the
acknowledgment or denial of paternity became effective, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend S.B. 232 (engrossed version) in SECTION 3 of the bill,
in amended Section 160.307, Family Code, by striking added
Subsection (d).
Jackson