88R1331 EAS-D
By: Patterson H.B. No. 532
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of parentage and the duty to pay child
support.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 154, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 154.0091 to read as follows:
Sec. 154.0091. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT ON ADJUDICATION OR
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY. (a) Notwithstanding any other
provision of this chapter or other law, in any order rendered under
Chapter 160, establishing a man's paternity of a child, or in any
suit to establish the child support obligation of a man whose
paternity has been established by the execution of a valid
acknowledgment of paternity in regard to the child under Subchapter
D, Chapter 160, the court shall order the man to pay retroactive
child support for the child beginning on the earliest possible date
of the child's conception, as determined by a physician.
(b) In ordering retroactive child support under this
section, the court shall apply the child support guidelines
provided by this chapter and, on a proper showing, order the man to
pay an equitable portion of all of the prenatal and postnatal health
care expenses of the mother and the child.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 157.261 or any other law,
interest does not begin to accrue on a retroactive child support
payment due under this section until the first anniversary of the
date the judge renders the order establishing the obligation.
SECTION 2. Section 160.304(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (a), an acknowledgment of
paternity or denial of paternity takes effect on [the date of the
birth of the child or] the filing of the document with the vital
statistics unit[, whichever occurs later].
SECTION 3. Section 160.502(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) If a request for genetic testing of a child is made
before the birth of the child, the court or support enforcement
agency may [not] order in utero testing only if:
(1) the request is made by the pregnant mother; and
(2) the pregnant mother is not pregnant with multiple
children.
SECTION 4. Section 160.611, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.611. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE BIRTH. (a) A proceeding
to determine parentage commenced before the birth of the child may
not be concluded until after the birth of the child unless the
pregnant mother:
(1) commences the proceeding; and
(2) is not pregnant with multiple children.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), in any [In a]
proceeding to determine parentage commenced before the birth of the
child [described by Subsection (a)], the following actions may be
taken before the birth of the child:
(1) service of process;
(2) discovery; and
(3) except as prohibited by Section 160.502,
collection of specimens for genetic testing.
SECTION 5. Sections 160.636(b) and (g), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) An order adjudicating parentage must identify the child
by name and date of birth, except that if the order is rendered
before the date of the child's birth:
(1) the order must identify the mother and father of
the unborn child and the child's expected date of birth; and
(2) as soon as practicable after the date of the
child's birth, the order must be amended to identify the child by
name and date of birth.
(g) On a finding of parentage, the court shall [may] order
retroactive child support as provided by Section 154.0091 [Chapter
154 and, on a proper showing, order a party to pay an equitable
portion of all of the prenatal and postnatal health care expenses of
the mother and the child].
SECTION 6. Section 160.636(h), Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act with respect
to an order adjudicating paternity apply only to an order rendered
on or after the effective date of this Act. An order adjudicating
paternity rendered before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the order is rendered, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by the Act with respect
to an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity apply only
to an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity executed
on or after the effective date of this Act. An acknowledgment of
paternity or denial of paternity executed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
acknowledgment or denial is executed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
160.611, Family Code, apply to a proceeding to determine parentage
that is pending on the effective date of this Act or filed on or
after that date.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.