82R5859 EES-D
By: Thompson H.B. No. 2421
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to determinations of paternity; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 160.302(a), 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 160.305(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section [Sections 160.307 and]
160.308, a valid denial of paternity filed with the bureau of vital
statistics in conjunction with a valid acknowledgment of paternity
is the equivalent of an adjudication of the nonpaternity of the
presumed father and discharges the presumed father from all rights
and duties of a parent.
SECTION 3. 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.
SECTION 4. Section 160.307, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.307. PROCEDURES [PROCEEDING] FOR RESCISSION. (a)
A signatory may rescind an acknowledgment of paternity as provided
by this section [or denial of paternity by 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 an administrative or judicial [of the
first hearing in a] proceeding relating to the child to which the
signatory is a party is initiated [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 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, an
administrative or judicial proceeding has not been held affecting
the child identified in the acknowledgment 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 the
other signatory of the acknowledgment of paternity and the
signatory of any related denial of paternity; and
(3) if the acknowledgment 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, the bureau of
vital statistics shall void the acknowledgment 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 bringing a
proceeding under Subchapter G to adjudicate the parentage of the
child.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 160.308, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 160.308. CHALLENGE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OR DENIAL OF
PATERNITY [AFTER EXPIRATION OF PERIOD FOR RESCISSION].
SECTION 6. Section 160.308, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (a-1) 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. The proceeding may [must] be commenced
at any time before the issuance of an administrative or judicial
order affecting the child identified in [fourth anniversary of the
date] the acknowledgment, including an order relating to support of
the child [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].
(a-1) A signatory of a denial of paternity may commence a
proceeding to challenge the denial only on the basis of fraud,
duress, or material mistake of fact. The proceeding may be
commenced at any time before the issuance of an administrative or
judicial order affecting the child identified in the denial,
including an order relating to support of the child.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
collateral attack on an acknowledgment of paternity signed under
this chapter may not be maintained after the issuance of an
administrative or judicial order affecting the child identified in
the acknowledgment, including an order relating to support of the
child [fourth anniversary of the date the acknowledgment of
paternity is filed with the bureau of vital statistics unless the
signatory was a minor on the date the signatory executed the
acknowledgment. If the signatory was a minor on the date the
signatory executed the acknowledgment, a collateral attack on the
acknowledgment of paternity may not be maintained after 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].
SECTION 7. Section 160.309, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.309. PROCEDURE FOR [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 [rescind
or] challenge the acknowledgment or denial of paternity.
(b) For purposes 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 [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 [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 [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 8. 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 of paternity.
(b) A valid acknowledgment of paternity, [or] denial of
paternity, or rescission of an acknowledgment of paternity is not
affected by a later modification of the prescribed form.
SECTION 9. 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 10. Subchapter F, Chapter 160, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 160.512 to read as follows:
Sec. 160.512. OFFENSE: FALSIFICATION OF SPECIMEN. (a) A
person commits an offense if the person alters, destroys, conceals,
fabricates, or falsifies genetic evidence in a proceeding to
adjudicate parentage, including inducing another person to provide
a specimen with the intent to affect the outcome of the proceeding.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree.
(c) An order excluding a man as the biological father of a
child based on genetic evidence shown to be altered, fabricated, or
falsified is void and unenforceable.
SECTION 11. Section 160.607(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A proceeding seeking to adjudicate the parentage of a
child having a [disprove the father-child relationship between a
child and the child's] presumed father may be maintained at any time
if the court determines that:
(1) the presumed father and the mother of the child did
not live together or engage in sexual intercourse with each other
during the probable time of conception; or [and]
(2) the presumed father was precluded from commencing
a proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of the child before the
expiration of the time prescribed by Subsection (a) because of the
mistaken belief that he was the child's biological father based on
misrepresentations that led him to that conclusion [never
represented to others that the child was his own].
SECTION 12. Section 160.608(f), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) This section applies to a proceeding to [rescind or]
challenge an acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of paternity
as provided by Section 160.309(d).
SECTION 13. Section 160.609(a), 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
[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 14. (a) The changes in law made by this Act with
respect to an acknowledgment or denial of paternity 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.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act with respect to a
proceeding to adjudicate parentage apply only to a proceeding that
is commenced on or after the effective date of this Act. A
proceeding to adjudicate parentage commenced before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
proceeding was commenced, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.