Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB785 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Harris S.B. No. 785
2	2	(Thompson)
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. Subsection (a), Section 154.006, Family Code, is
12	12	amended to 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); [or]
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) if the child enlists in the armed forces of the
29	29	United States, the date on which the child begins active service as
30	30	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), (d), (e),
33	33	(e-1), and (f) through (o) to read as 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, without obtaining genetic testing, the man signed an
41	41	acknowledgment of paternity of the child in accordance with
42	42	Subchapter D, Chapter 160, or was adjudicated to be the father of
43	43	the child in a previous proceeding under this title in which genetic
44	44	testing did not occur. The petition must be verified and must
45	45	allege facts showing that the petitioner:
46	46	(1) is not the child's genetic father; and
47	47	(2) signed the acknowledgment of paternity or failed
48	48	to contest parentage in the previous proceeding because of the
49	49	mistaken belief, at the time the acknowledgment was signed or on the
50	50	date the court order in the previous proceeding was rendered, that
51	51	he was the child's genetic father based on misrepresentations that
52	52	led him to that conclusion.
53	53	(d) A man may not file a petition under Subsection (c) if:
54	54	(1) the man is the child's adoptive father;
55	55	(2) the child was conceived by assisted reproduction
56	56	and the man consented to assisted reproduction by his wife under
57	57	Subchapter H, Chapter 160; or
58	58	(3) the man is the intended father of the child under a
59	59	gestational agreement validated by a court under Subchapter I,
60	60	Chapter 160.
61	61	(e) A petition under Subsection (c) must be filed not later
62	62	than the first anniversary of the date on which the petitioner
63	63	becomes aware of the acts alleged in the petition indicating that
64	64	the petitioner is not the child's genetic father.
65	65	(e-1) Subsection (e) applies beginning September 1, 2012.
66	66	Before that date, a petition may be filed under Subsection (c)
67	67	regardless of the date on which the petitioner became aware of the
68	68	acts alleged in the petition indicating that the petitioner is not
69	69	the child's genetic father. This subsection expires September 1,
70	70	2013.
71	71	(f) In a proceeding initiated under Subsection (c), the
72	72	court shall hold a pretrial hearing to determine whether the
73	73	petitioner has established a meritorious prima facie case for
74	74	termination of the parent-child relationship. If a meritorious
75	75	prima facie claim is established, the court shall order the
76	76	petitioner and the child to submit to genetic testing under
77	77	Subchapter F, Chapter 160.
78	78	(g) If the results of genetic testing ordered under
79	79	Subsection (f) identify the petitioner as the child's genetic
80	80	father under the standards prescribed by Section 160.505 and the
81	81	results of any further testing requested by the petitioner and
82	82	ordered by the court under Subchapter F, Chapter 160, do not exclude
83	83	the petitioner as the child's genetic father, the court shall deny
84	84	the petitioner's request for termination of the parent-child
85	85	relationship.
86	86	(h) If the results of genetic testing ordered under
87	87	Subsection (f) exclude the petitioner as the child's genetic
88	88	father, the court shall render an order terminating the
89	89	parent-child relationship.
90	90	(i) An order under Subsection (h) terminating the
91	91	parent-child relationship ends the petitioner's obligation for
92	92	future support of the child as of the date the order is rendered.
93	93	The order does not affect the petitioner's obligations for support
94	94	of the child incurred before that date or the petitioner's
95	95	obligation to pay interest that accrues after that date on the basis
96	96	of child support arrearages existing on that date. Those
97	97	obligations are enforceable until satisfied by any means available
98	98	for the enforcement of child support other than contempt.
99	99	(j) An order under Subsection (h) terminating the
100	100	parent-child relationship does not preclude:
101	101	(1) the initiation of a proceeding under Chapter 160
102	102	to adjudicate whether another man is the child's parent; or
103	103	(2) if the other man subject to a proceeding under
104	104	Subdivision (1) is adjudicated as the child's parent, the rendition
105	105	of an order requiring that man to pay child support for the child
106	106	under Chapter 154, subject to Subsection (k).
107	107	(k) Notwithstanding Section 154.131, an order described by
108	108	Subsection (j)(2) may not require the other man to pay retroactive
109	109	child support for any period preceding the date on which the order
110	110	under Subsection (h) terminated the parent-child relationship
111	111	between the child and the man seeking termination under this
112	112	section.
113	113	(l) At any time before the court renders an order
114	114	terminating the parent-child relationship under Subsection (h),
115	115	the petitioner may request that the court also order periods of
116	116	possession of or access to the child by the petitioner following
117	117	termination of the parent-child relationship. If requested, the
118	118	court may order periods of possession of or access to the child only
119	119	if the court determines that denial of periods of possession of or
120	120	access to the child would significantly impair the child's physical
121	121	health or emotional well-being.
122	122	(m) The court may include provisions in an order under
123	123	Subsection (l) that require:
124	124	(1) the child or any party to the proceeding to
125	125	participate in counseling with a mental health professional who:
126	126	(A) has a background in family therapy; and
127	127	(B) holds a professional license that requires
128	128	the person to possess at least a master's degree; and
129	129	(2) any party to pay the costs of the counseling
130	130	described by Subdivision (1).
131	131	(n) Notwithstanding Subsection (m)(1), if a person who
132	132	possesses the qualifications described by that subdivision is not
133	133	available in the county in which the court is located, the court may
134	134	require that the counseling be conducted by another person the
135	135	court considers qualified for that purpose.
136	136	(o) During any period of possession of or access to the
137	137	child ordered under Subsection (l) the petitioner has the rights
138	138	and duties specified by Section 153.074, subject to any limitation
139	139	specified by the court in its order.
140	140	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
141	141	154.006, Family Code, apply to an order for child support
142	142	regardless of whether the order was rendered before, on, or after
143	143	the effective date of this Act.
144	144	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
145	145	161.005, Family Code, apply to a parent-child relationship
146	146	regardless of whether the relationship was established before, on,
147	147	or after the effective date of this Act.
148	148	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
149	149	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
150	150	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
151	151	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
152	152	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.