Bill Text: TX HB481 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of paternity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-17 - Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence [HB481 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB481-Introduced.html
  82R2889 KSD-F
 
  By: Dutton H.B. No. 481
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of paternity.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 160.201(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The father-child relationship is established between a
  man and a child by:
               (1)  an unrebutted presumption of the man's paternity
  of the child under Section 160.204;
               (2)  an effective acknowledgment of paternity by the
  man under Subchapter D[, unless the acknowledgment has been
  rescinded or successfully challenged];
               (3)  an adjudication of the man's paternity;
               (4)  the adoption of the child by the man; or
               (5)  the man's consenting to assisted reproduction by
  his wife under Subchapter H, which resulted in the birth of the
  child.
         SECTION 2.  Section 160.204(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  A man is presumed to be the father of a child if:
               (1)  he is married to the mother of the child and the
  child is born during the marriage;
               (2)  he is married to the mother of the child and the
  child is born before the 301st day after the date the marriage is
  terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or
  divorce;
               (3)  he married the mother of the child before the birth
  of the child in apparent compliance with law, even if the attempted
  marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born
  during the invalid marriage or before the 301st day after the date
  the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of
  invalidity, or divorce;
               (4)  he married the mother of the child after the birth
  of the child in apparent compliance with law, regardless of whether
  the marriage is or could be declared invalid, he voluntarily
  asserted his paternity of the child, and:
                     (A)  the assertion is:
                           (i)  in a record filed with the bureau of
  vital statistics; or
                           (ii)  confirmed by the results of genetic
  testing [(B) he is voluntarily named as the child's father on the
  child's birth certificate]; or
                     (B) [(C)]  he promised in a record to support the
  child as his own; or
               (5)  during the first two years of the child's life, he
  continuously resided in the household in which the child resided
  and he represented to others that the child was his own.
         SECTION 3.  Section 160.301, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 160.301.  ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY. The mother of a
  child and a man claiming to be the biological father of the child
  may sign an acknowledgment of paternity with the intent to
  establish the man's paternity only after there has been genetic
  testing with results that are consistent with the man's claim of
  paternity.
         SECTION 4.  Section 160.302(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  An acknowledgment of paternity must:
               (1)  be in a record;
               (2)  be signed, or otherwise authenticated, under
  penalty of perjury by the mother and the man seeking to establish
  paternity;
               (3)  state that the child whose paternity is being
  acknowledged:
                     (A)  does not have a presumed father or has a
  presumed father whose full name is stated; and
                     (B)  does not have another acknowledged or
  adjudicated father;
               (4)  state that [whether] there has been genetic
  testing and[, if so, that] the acknowledging man's claim of
  paternity is consistent with the results of the testing; and
               (5)  state that the signatories understand that the
  acknowledgment is the equivalent of a judicial adjudication of the
  paternity of the child [and that a challenge to the acknowledgment
  is permitted only under limited circumstances and is barred after
  four years].
         SECTION 5.  Section 160.303, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 160.303.  DENIAL OF PATERNITY. A presumed father of a
  child may sign a denial of his paternity. The denial is valid only
  if:
               (1)  an acknowledgment of paternity signed or otherwise
  authenticated by another man is filed under Section 160.305;
               (2)  the denial is in a record and is signed or
  otherwise authenticated under penalty of perjury; and
               (3)  the presumed father has not previously:
                     (A)  acknowledged paternity of the child[, unless
  the previous acknowledgment has been rescinded under Section
  160.307 or successfully challenged under Section 160.308]; or
                     (B)  been adjudicated to be the father of the
  child.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 160.304(b) and (c), Family Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  An acknowledgment of paternity [or a denial of
  paternity] may not be signed unless the man's claim of paternity is
  confirmed by the results of genetic testing [before the birth of the
  child].
         (c)  Subject to Subsection (a), a [an acknowledgment of
  paternity or] denial of paternity may be signed before the birth of
  the child and takes effect on the date of the [birth of the child or
  the] filing of the document with the bureau of vital statistics[,
  whichever occurs later].
         SECTION 7.  Sections 160.305 and 160.310, Family Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 160.305.  EFFECT OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT OR DENIAL OF
  PATERNITY. (a) A [Except as provided by Sections 160.307 and
  160.308, a] valid acknowledgment of paternity filed with the bureau
  of vital statistics is the equivalent of an adjudication of the
  paternity of a child and confers on the acknowledged father all
  rights and duties of a parent.
         (b)  A [Except as provided by Sections 160.307 and 160.308,
  a] valid denial of paternity filed with the bureau of vital
  statistics in conjunction with a valid acknowledgment of paternity
  is the equivalent of an adjudication of the nonpaternity of the
  presumed father and discharges the presumed father from all rights
  and duties of a parent.
         Sec. 160.310.  RATIFICATION BARRED. A court or
  administrative agency conducting a judicial or administrative
  proceeding may not ratify an [unchallenged] acknowledgment of
  paternity.
         SECTION 8.  Section 160.312(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  To facilitate compliance with this subchapter, the
  bureau of vital statistics shall prescribe forms for the
  acknowledgment of paternity and the denial of paternity. The form
  for the acknowledgment of paternity must require the man seeking to
  establish paternity to state that the man's claim of paternity is
  consistent with the results of genetic testing.
         SECTION 9.  Section 160.609, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 160.609.  TIME LIMITATION: CHILD HAVING [ACKNOWLEDGED
  OR] ADJUDICATED FATHER. [(a) If a child has an acknowledged
  father, a signatory to the acknowledgment or denial of paternity
  may commence a proceeding seeking to rescind the acknowledgment or
  denial or to challenge the paternity of the child only within the
  time allowed under Section 160.307 or 160.308.
         [(b)]  If a child has an [acknowledged father or an]
  adjudicated father, an individual, other than the child, who is not
  a [signatory to the acknowledgment or a] party to the adjudication
  and who seeks an adjudication of paternity of the child must
  commence a proceeding not later than the fourth anniversary of the
  effective date of the [acknowledgment or] adjudication.
         SECTION 10.  Section 160.634, Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 160.634.  ORDER ON DEFAULT. The court shall issue an
  order adjudicating the paternity of a man who:
               (1)  after having been personally served with [service
  of] process, is in default; and
               (2)  is found by the court to be the father of a child.
         SECTION 11.  Section 160.637, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  A child is not bound by a determination of parentage
  under this chapter unless:
               (1)  the determination was based on an [unrescinded]
  acknowledgment of paternity and the acknowledgment is consistent
  with the results of genetic testing;
               (2)  the adjudication of parentage was based on a
  finding consistent with the results of genetic testing and the
  consistency is declared in the determination or is otherwise shown;
  or
               (3)  the child was a party or was represented in the
  proceeding determining parentage by an attorney ad litem.
         (f)  An adjudication of parentage is not binding on a person
  who was not personally served with process in the suit adjudicating
  parentage unless the person personally appeared in the suit.
         SECTION 12.  Sections 160.307, 160.308, 160.309, and
  160.608(f), Family Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 13.  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
  acknowledgment or denial of paternity filed on or after the
  effective date of this Act. An acknowledgment or denial of
  paternity filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
  the law in effect on the date the acknowledgment or denial of
  paternity was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         (b)  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 160.634
  and 160.637, Family Code, apply only to a proceeding to adjudicate
  the parentage of a child filed on or after the effective date of
  this Act. A proceeding filed before the effective date of this Act
  is governed by the law in effect on the date the proceeding was
  filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 14.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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