78R6441 KLA-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 1879
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment and adjudication of certain
parent-child relationships.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 160.204, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.204. PRESUMPTION OF PATERNITY [IN CONTEXT OF
MARRIAGE]. (a) A man is presumed to be the father of a child if:
(1) he is married to the mother of the child and the
child is born during the marriage;
(2) he is married to the mother of the child and the
child is born before the 301st day after the date the marriage is
terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or
divorce;
(3) he married the mother of the child before the birth
of the child in apparent compliance with law, even if the attempted
marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born
during the invalid marriage or before the 301st day after the date
the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of
invalidity, or divorce; [or]
(4) he married the mother of the child after the birth
of the child in apparent compliance with law, regardless of whether
the marriage is or could be declared invalid, he voluntarily
asserted his paternity of the child, and:
(A) the assertion is in a record filed with the
bureau of vital statistics;
(B) he is voluntarily named as the child's father
on the child's birth certificate; or
(C) he promised in a record to support the child
as his own; or
(5) during the first two years of the child's life, he
continuously resided in the household in which the child resided
and he represented to others that the child was his own.
(b) A presumption of paternity established under this
section may be rebutted only by an adjudication under Subchapter G.
SECTION 2. Section 160.301, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.301. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY. The mother of a
child and a man claiming to be the biological father of the child
[conceived as the result of sexual intercourse with the mother] may
sign an acknowledgment of paternity with the intent to establish
the man's paternity.
SECTION 3. Section 160.602, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.602. STANDING TO MAINTAIN PROCEEDING. (a)
Subject to Subchapter D and Sections 160.607 and 160.609 and except
as provided by Subsection (b), a proceeding to adjudicate parentage
may be maintained by:
(1) the child;
(2) the mother of the child;
(3) a man whose paternity of the child is to be
adjudicated;
(4) the support enforcement agency or another
government agency authorized by other law;
(5) an authorized adoption agency or licensed
child-placing agency;
(6) a representative authorized by law to act for an
individual who would otherwise be entitled to maintain a proceeding
but who is deceased, is incapacitated, or is a minor; or
(7) a person related within the second degree by
consanguinity to the mother of the child, if the mother is deceased.
(b) After the date a child having no presumed, acknowledged,
or adjudicated father becomes an adult, a proceeding to adjudicate
the parentage of the adult child may only be maintained by the adult
child.
SECTION 4. Section 160.607(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A proceeding seeking to disprove the father-child
relationship between a child and the child's presumed father may be
maintained at any time if the court determines that:
(1) the presumed father and the mother of the child did
not live together or engage in sexual intercourse with each other
during the probable time of conception; and
(2) the presumed father never represented to others
that [openly treated] the child was [as] his own.
SECTION 5. Section 160.608, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(a) In a proceeding to adjudicate parentage [under
circumstances described by Section 160.607], a court may deny a
motion for an order for the genetic testing of the mother, the
child, and the presumed father if the court determines that:
(1) the conduct of the mother or the presumed father
estops that party from denying parentage; and
(2) it would be inequitable to disprove the
father-child relationship between the child and the presumed
father.
(f) This section applies to a proceeding to rescind or
challenge an acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of paternity
as provided by Section 160.309(d).
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a suit affecting the parent-child relationship commenced on or
after the effective date of this Act. A suit affecting the
parent-child relationship commenced before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was
commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.