By Harris S.B. No. 788
74R4547 MJW-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to registration for notice of a suit affecting the
1-3 parent-child relationship by a man who suspects that he is the
1-4 child's father.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 11.09, Family Code, is amended by
1-7 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
1-8 follows:
1-9 (a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section,
1-10 the following persons are entitled to service of citation on the
1-11 filing of a petition in a suit affecting the parent-child
1-12 relationship:
1-13 (1) the managing conservator, if any;
1-14 (2) possessory conservators, if any;
1-15 (3) persons, if any, having access to the child under
1-16 an order of the court;
1-17 (4) persons, if any, required by law or by order of a
1-18 court to provide for the support of a child;
1-19 (5) the guardian of the person of the child, if any;
1-20 (6) the guardian of the estate of the child, if any;
1-21 (7) each parent as to whom the parent-child
1-22 relationship has not been terminated or process has not been waived
1-23 under Section 15.03(c)(2) of this code; <and>
1-24 (8) the alleged father or probable father, unless
2-1 there is attached to the petition an affidavit of waiver of
2-2 interest in a child executed by the alleged father or probable
2-3 father as provided in Section 15.041 of this code; and
2-4 (9) a man who has registered with the clerk of the
2-5 court in which the suit is filed under Subsection (g) of this
2-6 section.
2-7 (g) A man who suspects that he is a child's father may
2-8 register with the clerk of a court of this state in which a suit
2-9 affecting the parent-child relationship may be brought concerning
2-10 that child. A clerk with whom a man registers under this
2-11 subsection shall notify a person filing a suit affecting the
2-12 parent-child relationship concerning the child named in the man's
2-13 registration information that the person must provide the man with
2-14 service of citation in the suit. A man registering under this
2-15 section must provide to the clerk his own name and mailing address,
2-16 the name and mailing address, if the mailing address is known, of
2-17 the child's mother, and the name and probable date of birth of the
2-18 child, if known. A clerk is not responsible for providing the
2-19 notification required by this subsection if the clerk is unable to
2-20 determine the child's identity from the information provided.
2-21 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
2-22 applies only to notice of a suit affecting the parent-child
2-23 relationship that is filed on or after that date. A suit filed
2-24 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
2-25 effect when the suit was filed, and the former law is continued in
2-26 effect for that purpose.
2-27 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.