By: Cook (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 1973

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2025; May 5, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence; May 23, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 23, 2025, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1973 By: Johnson

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to proof of the identity of a child's parents in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 102.008, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(c-1) The petitioner shall additionally submit to the court a certified copy of the child's birth certificate if available to the petitioner. If a certified copy of the child's birth certificate is not available to the petitioner, the court at any time during the pendency of the suit may request another party to whom a certified copy of the child's birth certificate is available to submit a copy to the court. A certified copy of the child's birth certificate submitted under this subsection must be submitted for filing under seal and filed separately from any other document. If a certified copy of the child's birth certificate is not available to any party or if the copy does not name both of the child's parents, the court may request from any party at any time during the pendency of the suit alternative proof of the identity of the child's parents. The court shall seal or otherwise keep confidential any certificate or other proof submitted under this subsection, as applicable.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the Title IV-D agency files a petition in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship, the agency is not required to:

(1) include in the petition the statement described by Subsection (b)(11); [or]

(2) attach copies of the documentation described by Subsection (c); or

(3) submit to the court a copy of a child's birth certificate or other proof of the identity of the child's parents as described by Subsection (c-1).

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit affecting the parent-child relationship 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, 2025.

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