84R2873 JSC-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 545
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of an order to pay child support by
contempt.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 157.162, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The court may not find a respondent in contempt of court
for failure to pay child support if the respondent appears at the
hearing with a copy of the payment record or other evidence
satisfactory to the court showing that the respondent is current in
the payment of child support as ordered by the court.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
hearing to enforce an order in a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship that commences on or after the effective date of this
Act. A hearing that commences before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law in effect on the date the hearing commenced,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.