78R6766 KSD-D

By:  Farrar                                                       H.B. No. 1903



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to testimony regarding parental alienation syndrome in a 
suit regarding the conservatorship of, or the possession of or 
access to, a child.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 104, Family Code, is amended by adding 
Section 104.007 to read as follows:
	Sec. 104.007.  TESTIMONY REGARDING PARENTAL ALIENATION 
SYNDROME.  In a suit regarding the conservatorship of, or the 
possession of or access to, a child, the court may allow testimony 
regarding parental alienation syndrome only if:
		(1)  the syndrome is recognized as a valid medical or 
psychiatric condition in the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical 
Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric 
Association; and
		(2)  the testimony is admissible under Rule 702, Texas 
Rules of Evidence.
	SECTION 2.  Section 104.007, Family Code, as added by this 
Act, applies only to a suit regarding the conservatorship of, or the 
possession of or access to, a child filed on or after the effective 
date of this Act.  A suit filed before the effective date of this Act 
is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and 
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.