By Reyna of Bexar                                     H.B. No. 2078
         77R6564 KSD-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to a court order of retroactive child support.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 154.131, Family Code, is amended to read
 1-5     as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 154.131.  [APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES TO] RETROACTIVE
 1-7     CHILD SUPPORT.  (a)  The child support guidelines are intended to
 1-8     guide the court in determining the amount of retroactive child
 1-9     support, if any, to be ordered.
1-10           (b)  In applying the child support guidelines, the court
1-11     shall limit an order for retroactive child support to an amount
1-12     that does not exceed the total amount of support that would have
1-13     been due for the four years preceding the date the petition seeking
1-14     support was filed, unless the court finds that the obligor:
1-15                 (1)  knew or should have known that the obligor was the
1-16     father of the child for whom support is sought; and
1-17                 (2)  sought to avoid the establishment of a support
1-18     obligation to the child.
1-19           (c)  In ordering retroactive child support, the court shall
1-20     consider the net resources of the obligor during the relevant time
1-21     period and whether:
1-22                 (1)  the mother of the child had made any previous
1-23     attempts to notify the obligor [biological father] of his paternity
1-24     or probable paternity;
 2-1                 (2)  the obligor [biological father] had knowledge of
 2-2     his paternity or probable paternity;
 2-3                 (3)  the order of retroactive child support will impose
 2-4     an undue financial hardship on the obligor or the obligor's family;
 2-5     and
 2-6                 (4)  the obligor has provided actual support or other
 2-7     necessaries before the filing of the action.
 2-8           (d)  An order limiting the amount of retroactive support
 2-9     under this section does not constitute a variance from the
2-10     guidelines requiring the court to make specific findings under
2-11     Section 154.130.
2-12           SECTION 2.  Section 160.005(b), Family Code, is amended to
2-13     read as follows:
2-14           (b)  On a finding of parentage, the court may order support
2-15     retroactive as provided by Chapter 154 [to the time of the birth of
2-16     the child] and, on a proper showing, may order a party to pay an
2-17     equitable portion of all prenatal and postnatal health care
2-18     expenses of the mother and child.
2-19           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
2-20     applies only to a suit for retroactive child support filed on or
2-21     after that date without regard to whether the child support became
2-22     due before, on, or after that date.  A suit filed before the
2-23     effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
2-24     date the suit was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
2-25     for that purpose.