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.