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Senate Bill 785 |
Senate Author: Harris |
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Effective: 5-12-11 |
House Sponsor: Thompson |
Senate Bill 785 amends the Family Code to establish a process by which a man may file a suit for termination of the parent-child relationship between the man and a child if, without obtaining genetic testing, the man signed an acknowledgment of paternity of the child or was adjudicated to be the father of the child in a previous proceeding in which genetic testing did not occur. Among other provisions, the bill requires the court in such a proceeding to order the petitioner and the child to submit to genetic testing if the petitioner establishes a meritorious prima facie claim for termination of the parent-child relationship. The bill requires the court to render an order terminating the parent-child relationship if the results of the genetic testing exclude the petitioner as the child's genetic father and establishes that the petitioner's obligation for future support of the child ends as of the date on which such an order is rendered. The order does not affect the petitioner's obligations to pay support of the child incurred before the date of the order or interest accrued after that date on the basis of existing arrearages.