1-1 By: Turner of Harris (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 638
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001;
1-3 May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to contesting a voluntary statement of paternity or
1-9 acknowledgment of paternity.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 160.007(a), Family Code, is amended to
1-12 read as follows:
1-13 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or Section 160.217,
1-14 a suit under this chapter with respect to a child is barred if
1-15 final judgment has been rendered by a court of competent
1-16 jurisdiction:
1-17 (1) adjudicating a named individual to be the
1-18 biological father of the child; [or]
1-19 (2) terminating the parent-child relationship between
1-20 the child and each living parent of the child; or
1-21 (3) granting a petition for the adoption of the child.
1-22 SECTION 2. Section 160.207(a), Family Code, is amended to
1-23 read as follows:
1-24 (a) A person who may contest a presumption of paternity
1-25 under Section 160.101 may contest an acknowledgment of paternity or
1-26 a denial of paternity by filing a suit affecting the parent-child
1-27 relationship. A suit to contest an acknowledgment of paternity or
1-28 a denial of paternity that is filed after the time for a suit to
1-29 rescind under Section 160.206 may be filed only on the basis of
1-30 fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. For purposes of this
1-31 subsection, evidence that a man is excluded as the father of a
1-32 child based on scientifically accepted parentage testing
1-33 constitutes a material mistake of fact. The party challenging the
1-34 acknowledgment of paternity or the denial of paternity has the
1-35 burden of proof.
1-36 SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 160, Family Code, is amended
1-37 by adding Section 160.217 to read as follows:
1-38 Sec. 160.217. SUIT TO CONTEST VOLUNTARY STATEMENT OF
1-39 PATERNITY. (a) A man who executed a voluntary statement of
1-40 paternity before September 1, 1999, and who, on the basis of that
1-41 statement, is the subject of a final order declaring him to be a
1-42 parent of the child who is the subject of the statement may file a
1-43 suit affecting the parent-child relationship to contest the
1-44 statement on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of
1-45 fact in the same manner that a person may contest an acknowledgment
1-46 of paternity under Sections 160.207 and 160.208. For purposes of
1-47 this subsection, evidence that a man is excluded as the father of a
1-48 child based on scientifically accepted parentage testing
1-49 constitutes a material mistake of fact.
1-50 (b) A suit filed under this section to contest a voluntary
1-51 statement of paternity is not affected by an order with respect to
1-52 the child that was rendered on the basis of that statement.
1-53 (c) The court, on a preliminary finding in a suit under this
1-54 section that there is credible evidence of fraud, duress, or
1-55 material mistake of fact regarding the execution of the voluntary
1-56 statement of paternity, shall order scientifically accepted
1-57 parentage testing as provided by Section 160.102. The person
1-58 contesting the voluntary statement of paternity shall pay the cost
1-59 of the testing.
1-60 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), if the court finds
1-61 that at least 99 percent of the male population is excluded by the
1-62 test ordered under Subsection (c) and that the man who executed the
1-63 voluntary statement of paternity is excluded from the possibility
1-64 of being the child's father, the court shall set aside:
2-1 (1) the final order declaring the man to be a parent
2-2 of the child; and
2-3 (2) any other order with respect to the child that was
2-4 rendered on the basis of the voluntary statement of paternity.
2-5 (e) The court may not set aside under Subsection (d) a final
2-6 order declaring a man to be a parent of a child if the man who
2-7 executed the voluntary statement of paternity:
2-8 (1) executed the statement knowing that he was not the
2-9 father of the child; or
2-10 (2) subsequently adopted the child.
2-11 (f) If the court sets aside a final order as provided by
2-12 Subsection (d), the court shall order the bureau of vital
2-13 statistics to amend the birth record of the child. The court may
2-14 not as a result of the order being set aside:
2-15 (1) require an obligee to repay child support paid by
2-16 the man who executed the voluntary statement of paternity; or
2-17 (2) award damages to the man who executed the
2-18 voluntary statement of paternity.
2-19 (g) A suit under this section must be filed before September
2-20 1, 2003.
2-21 (h) This section expires September 1, 2004.
2-22 SECTION 4. The change in law made by Section 160.217, Family
2-23 Code, as added by this Act, applies to a suit affecting the
2-24 parent-child relationship commenced on or after the effective date
2-25 of this Act and before September 1, 2003. A suit commenced before
2-26 September 1, 2003, that is pending on or after September 1, 2004,
2-27 is governed by Section 160.217, Family Code, as that section
2-28 existed on the date the suit was filed, and that law is continued
2-29 in effect for that purpose.
2-30 SECTION 5. The change in law made by Section 160.207, Family
2-31 Code, as amended by this Act, applies to a suit affecting the
2-32 parent-child relationship commenced on or after the effective date
2-33 of this Act. A suit affecting the parent-child relationship
2-34 commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
2-35 law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is
2-36 continued in effect for that purpose.
2-37 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-38 * * * * *