89R828 MLH-D
By: Guillen H.B. No. 187
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring a man determined by adjudication or
acknowledgment to be a child's father to pay retroactive child
support beginning on the first day of the calendar month in which
the child's conception occurred.
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:
(1) pay retroactive child support beginning on the
first day of the calendar month of the earliest possible date of the
child's conception, as determined by acknowledgement of the child's
biological parents or standard medical practice, as defined by
Section 171.201, Health and Safety Code; and
(2) reimburse the child's mother for an equitable
portion of:
(A) the reasonable and necessary medical
expenses incurred by the mother and the child during gestation and
delivery and incurred by the mother during postpartum recovery that
are not reimbursed by medical insurance;
(B) the cost of materials purchased by the mother
in preparing for the child's birth that are necessary for the
child's health and safety, including:
(i) diapers;
(ii) a car seat;
(iii) a crib;
(iv) clothing; and
(v) infant formula; and
(C) lost wages as a result of time spent
receiving medical attention during gestation, delivery, and
postpartum recovery.
(b) In ordering retroactive child support under Subsection
(a)(1), the court shall apply the child support guidelines provided
by this chapter. In ordering reimbursement under Subsection
(a)(2), the court shall consider the specific circumstances of the
mother's gestation, delivery, and any other relevant factor in
determining the amount constituting the equitable portion owed by
the man under that provision.
(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 man's paternity
or the man executes a valid acknowledgment of paternity with
respect to the child, as applicable.
SECTION 2. Section 160.636(g), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(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 3. Section 160.636(h), Family Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. 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 5. The changes in law made by this Act with respect
to an acknowledgment of paternity apply only to an acknowledgment
of paternity executed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An acknowledgment of paternity executed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
acknowledgment is executed, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.