By: Harris S.B. No. 785
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the termination of the parent-child relationship and
the duty to pay child support in circumstances involving mistaken
paternity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 154.006, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly
provided in the order or as provided by Subsection (b), the child
support order terminates on:
(1) the marriage of the child;
(2) the removal of the child's disabilities for
general purposes;
(3) the death of the child;
(4) a finding by a court that the child:
(A) is 18 years of age or older; and
(B) has failed to comply with the enrollment or
attendance requirements described by Section 154.002(a); [or]
(5) the issuance under Section 161.005(h) of an order
terminating the parent-child relationship between the obligor and
the child based on the results of genetic testing that exclude the
obligor as the child's genetic father; or
(6) if the child enlists in the armed forces of the
United States, the date on which the child begins active service as
defined by 10 U.S.C. Section 101.
SECTION 2. Section 161.005, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), (e),
(e-1), and (f) through (o) to read as follows:
(a) A parent may file a suit for termination of the
petitioner's parent-child relationship. Except as provided by
Subsection (h), the [The] court may order termination if
termination is in the best interest of the child.
(c) Subject to Subsection (d), a man may file a suit for
termination of the parent-child relationship between the man and a
child if, without obtaining genetic testing, the man signed an
acknowledgment of paternity of the child in accordance with
Subchapter D, Chapter 160, or was adjudicated to be the father of
the child in a previous proceeding under this title in which genetic
testing did not occur. The petition must be verified and must
allege facts showing that the petitioner:
(1) is not the child's genetic father; and
(2) signed the acknowledgment of paternity or failed
to contest parentage in the previous proceeding because of the
mistaken belief, at the time the acknowledgment was signed or on the
date the court order in the previous proceeding was rendered, that
he was the child's genetic father based on misrepresentations that
led him to that conclusion.
(d) A man may not file a petition under Subsection (c) if:
(1) the man is the child's adoptive father;
(2) the child was conceived by assisted reproduction
and the man consented to assisted reproduction by his wife under
Subchapter H, Chapter 160; or
(3) the man is the intended father of the child under a
gestational agreement validated by a court under Subchapter I,
Chapter 160.
(e) A petition under Subsection (c) must be filed not later
than the first anniversary of the date on which the petitioner
becomes aware of the acts alleged in the petition indicating that
the petitioner is not the child's genetic father.
(e-1) Subsection (e) applies beginning September 1, 2012.
Before that date, a petition may be filed under Subsection (c)
regardless of the date on which the petitioner became aware of the
acts alleged in the petition indicating that the petitioner is not
the child's genetic father. This subsection expires September 1,
2013.
(f) In a proceeding initiated under Subsection (c), the
court shall hold a pretrial hearing to determine whether the
petitioner has established a meritorious prima facie case for
termination of the parent-child relationship. If a meritorious
prima facie claim is established, the court shall order the
petitioner and the child to submit to genetic testing under
Subchapter F, Chapter 160.
(g) If the results of genetic testing ordered under
Subsection (f) identify the petitioner as the child's genetic
father under the standards prescribed by Section 160.505 and the
results of any further testing requested by the petitioner and
ordered by the court under Subchapter F, Chapter 160, do not exclude
the petitioner as the child's genetic father, the court shall deny
the petitioner's request for termination of the parent-child
relationship.
(h) If the results of genetic testing ordered under
Subsection (f) exclude the petitioner as the child's genetic
father, the court shall render an order terminating the
parent-child relationship.
(i) An order under Subsection (h) terminating the
parent-child relationship ends the petitioner's obligation for
future support of the child as of the date the order is rendered.
The order does not affect the petitioner's obligations for support
of the child incurred before that date or the petitioner's
obligation to pay interest that accrues after that date on the basis
of child support arrearages existing on that date. Those
obligations are enforceable until satisfied by any means available
for the enforcement of child support other than contempt.
(j) An order under Subsection (h) terminating the
parent-child relationship does not preclude:
(1) the initiation of a proceeding under Chapter 160
to adjudicate whether another man is the child's parent; or
(2) if the other man subject to a proceeding under
Subdivision (1) is adjudicated as the child's parent, the rendition
of an order requiring that man to pay child support for the child
under Chapter 154, subject to Subsection (k).
(k) Notwithstanding Section 154.131, an order described by
Subsection (j)(2) may not require the other man to pay retroactive
child support for any period preceding the date on which the order
under Subsection (h) terminated the parent-child relationship
between the child and the man seeking termination under this
section.
(l) At any time before the court renders an order
terminating the parent-child relationship under Subsection (h),
the petitioner may request that the court also order periods of
possession of or access to the child by the petitioner following
termination of the parent-child relationship. If requested, the
court may order periods of possession of or access to the child only
if the court determines that denial of periods of possession of or
access to the child would significantly impair the child's physical
health or emotional well-being.
(m) The court may include provisions in an order under
Subsection (l) that require:
(1) the child or any party to the proceeding to
participate in counseling with a mental health professional who:
(A) has a background in family therapy; and
(B) holds a professional license that requires
the person to possess at least a master's degree; and
(2) any party to pay the costs of the counseling
described by Subdivision (1).
(n) Notwithstanding Subsection (m)(1), if a person who
possesses the qualifications described by that subdivision is not
available in the county in which the court is located, the court may
require that the counseling be conducted by another person the
court considers qualified for that purpose.
(o) During any period of possession of or access to the
child ordered under Subsection (l) the petitioner has the rights
and duties specified by Section 153.074, subject to any limitation
specified by the court in its order.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
154.006, Family Code, apply to an order for child support
regardless of whether the order was rendered before, on, or after
the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
161.005, Family Code, apply to a parent-child relationship
regardless of whether the relationship was established before, on,
or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.