HBA-LJP H.B. 638 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 638 By: Turner, Sylvester Juvenile Justice & Family Issues 2/25/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, if a man voluntarily accepts parental responsibility and is later proven not to be the biological father of the child, it is possible that the man may have to continue to pay child support. House Bill 638 authorizes either parent to petition a court for the termination of a parent-child relationship between a child and a man who has been excluded as the father of the child through scientifically accepted parentage testing. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 638 amends the Family Code to authorize either parent, at any time, to contest an acknowledgment of paternity by filing a suit affecting the parent-child relationship if a signed acknowledgment of paternity is filed with the bureau of vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health and after this filing the child's father has been excluded as the father of the child through scientifically accepted parentage testing. The bill authorizes either parent to file a suit for a termination of the parent-child relationship of a father who executed a voluntary statement of paternity before September 1, 1999. The bill requires the court to order termination in this suit under the following conditions if the court finds that the father: _executed a statement, and on the basis of the statement, is the subject of a final order declaring him to be a parent of the child; and _after executing the statement of paternity, has been excluded as the father of the child through scientifically accepted parentage testing that meets certain requirements. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.