Title FA, Family Code

Sec. 154.005. PAYMENTS OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION BY TRUST. (a) The court may order the trustees of a spendthrift or other trust to make disbursements for the support of a child to the extent the trustees are required to make payments to a beneficiary who is required to make child sup…

Sec. 154.006. TERMINATION OF DUTY OF SUPPORT. (a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the order or as provided by Subsection (b), the child support order terminates on: (1) the marriage of the child; (2) the removal of the child's disabilities for general …

Sec. 154.007. ORDER TO WITHHOLD CHILD SUPPORT FROM INCOME. (a) In a proceeding in which periodic payments of child support are ordered, modified, or enforced, the court or Title IV-D agency shall order that income be withheld from the disposable earnings of the obligor as provide…

Sec. 154.008. PROVISION FOR MEDICAL SUPPORT AND DENTAL SUPPORT. The court shall order medical support and dental support for the child as provided by Subchapters B and D. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1023…

Sec. 154.009. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT. (a) The court may order a parent to pay retroactive child support if the parent: (1) has not previously been ordered to pay support for the child; and (2) was not a party to a suit in which support was ordered. (b) In ordering retroactive …

Sec. 154.010. NO DISCRIMINATION BASED ON MARITAL STATUS OF PARENTS OR SEX. The amount of support ordered for the benefit of a child shall be determined without regard to: (1) the sex of the obligor, obligee, or child; or (2) the marital status of the parents of the child. Added b…

Sec. 154.011. SUPPORT NOT CONDITIONED ON POSSESSION OR ACCESS. A court may not render an order that conditions the payment of child support on whether a managing conservator allows a possessory conservator to have possession of or access to a child. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg.,…

Sec. 154.012. SUPPORT PAID IN EXCESS OF SUPPORT ORDER. (a) If an obligor is not in arrears and the obligor's child support obligation has terminated, the obligee shall return to the obligor a child support payment made by the obligor that exceeds the amount of support ordered, re…

Sec. 154.013. CONTINUATION OF DUTY TO PAY SUPPORT AFTER DEATH OF OBLIGEE. (a) A child support obligation does not terminate on the death of the obligee but continues as an obligation to the child named in the support order, as required by this section. (b) Notwithstanding any pro…

Sec. 154.014. PAYMENTS IN EXCESS OF COURT-ORDERED AMOUNT. (a) If a child support agency or local child support registry receives from an obligor who is not in arrears a child support payment in an amount that exceeds the court-ordered amount, the agency or registry, to the extent…

Sec. 154.015. ACCELERATION OF UNPAID CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION. (a) In this section, "estate" has the meaning assigned by Chapter 22, Estates Code. (b) If the child support obligor dies before the child support obligation terminates, the remaining unpaid balance of the child suppo…

Sec. 154.016. PROVISION OF SUPPORT IN EVENT OF DEATH OF PARENT. (a) The court may order a child support obligor to obtain and maintain a life insurance policy, including a decreasing term life insurance policy, that will establish an insurance-funded trust or an annuity payable t…

Sec. 154.017. EMPLOYMENT SERVICES-RELATED ORDERS FOR UNEMPLOYED AND UNDEREMPLOYED OBLIGORS. (a) When establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation, a court or Title IV-D agency may render an order requiring an unemployed or underemployed obligor to: (1) enroll …

Sec. 154.061. COMPUTING NET MONTHLY INCOME. (a) Whenever feasible, gross income should first be computed on an annual basis and then should be recalculated to determine average monthly gross income. (b) The Title IV-D agency shall annually promulgate tax charts to compute net mon…

Sec. 154.062. NET RESOURCES. (a) The court shall calculate net resources for the purpose of determining child support liability as provided by this section. (b) Resources include: (1) 100 percent of all wage and salary income and other compensation for personal services (includin…

Sec. 154.063. PARTY TO FURNISH INFORMATION. The court shall require a party to: (1) furnish information sufficient to accurately identify that party's net resources and ability to pay child support; and (2) produce copies of income tax returns for the past two years, a financial …

Sec. 154.064. MEDICAL SUPPORT AND DENTAL SUPPORT FOR CHILD PRESUMPTIVELY PROVIDED BY OBLIGOR. The guidelines for support of a child are based on the assumption that the court will order the obligor to provide medical support and dental support for the child in addition to the amo…

Sec. 154.065. SELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOME. (a) Income from self-employment, whether positive or negative, includes benefits allocated to an individual from a business or undertaking in the form of a proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, close corporation, agency, or independent …

Sec. 154.0655. IMPUTATION OF INCOME. (a) In this section, "resources" has the meaning assigned by Section 154.062(b). (b) To the extent possible, the court shall rely on evidence of a party's resources when applying the support guidelines. (c) In the absence of evidence of a part…

Sec. 154.066. INTENTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT OR UNDEREMPLOYMENT. (a) If the actual income of the obligor is significantly less than what the obligor could earn because of intentional unemployment or underemployment, the court may apply the support guidelines to the earning potential of…

Sec. 154.067. DEEMED INCOME. (a) When appropriate, in order to determine the net resources available for child support, the court may assign a reasonable amount of deemed income attributable to assets that do not currently produce income. The court shall also consider whether cer…

Sec. 154.068. WAGE AND SALARY PRESUMPTION. (a) In the absence of evidence of a party's resources, as defined by Section 154.062(b), the court shall presume that the party has income equal to the federal minimum wage for a 40-hour week to which the support guidelines may be applie…

Sec. 154.069. NET RESOURCES OF SPOUSE. (a) The court may not add any portion of the net resources of a spouse to the net resources of an obligor or obligee in order to calculate the amount of child support to be ordered. (b) The court may not subtract the needs of a spouse, or of…

Sec. 154.070. CHILD SUPPORT RECEIVED BY OBLIGOR. In a situation involving multiple households due child support, child support received by an obligor shall be added to the obligor's net resources to compute the net resources before determining the child support credit or applying…

Sec. 154.121. GUIDELINES FOR THE SUPPORT OF A CHILD. The child support guidelines in this subchapter are intended to guide the court in determining an equitable amount of child support. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995.

Sec. 154.122. APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES REBUTTABLY PRESUMED IN BEST INTEREST OF CHILD. (a) The amount of a periodic child support payment established by the child support guidelines in effect in this state at the time of the hearing is presumed to be reasonable, and an order of s…

Sec. 154.123. ADDITIONAL FACTORS FOR COURT TO CONSIDER. (a) The court may order periodic child support payments in an amount other than that established by the guidelines if the evidence rebuts the presumption that application of the guidelines is in the best interest of the chil…

Sec. 154.124. AGREEMENT CONCERNING SUPPORT. (a) To promote the amicable settlement of disputes between the parties to a suit, the parties may enter into a written agreement containing provisions for support of the child and for modification of the agreement, including variations …

Sec. 154.125. APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES TO NET RESOURCES. (a) The guidelines for the support of a child in this section are specifically designed to apply to situations in which the obligor's monthly net resources are not greater than the maximum amount of net resources to which …

Sec. 154.126. APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES TO ADDITIONAL NET RESOURCES. (a) If the obligor's net resources exceed the amount provided by Section 154.125(a), the court shall presumptively apply the percentage guidelines to the portion of the obligor's net resources that does not exce…

Sec. 154.127. PARTIAL TERMINATION OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION. (a) A child support order for more than one child shall provide that, on the termination of support for a child, the level of support for the remaining child or children is in accordance with the child support guidelines. (…

Sec. 154.128. COMPUTING SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN IN MORE THAN ONE HOUSEHOLD. (a) In applying the child support guidelines for an obligor who has children in more than one household, the court shall apply the percentage guidelines in this subchapter by making the following computation…

Sec. 154.129. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF COMPUTING SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN IN MORE THAN ONE HOUSEHOLD. (a) If the obligor's monthly net resources are not greater than the amount described by Section 154.125(a) and if the obligor's monthly net resources are equal to or greater than the am…

Sec. 154.130. FINDINGS IN CHILD SUPPORT ORDER. (a) Without regard to Rules 296 through 299, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, in rendering an order of child support, the court shall make the findings required by Subsection (b) if: (1) a party files a written request with the court …

Sec. 154.131. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT. (a) The child support guidelines are intended to guide the court in determining the amount of retroactive child support, if any, to be ordered. (b) In ordering retroactive child support, the court shall consider the net resources of the ob…

Sec. 154.132. APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES TO CHILDREN OF CERTAIN DISABLED OBLIGORS. (a) In applying the child support guidelines for an obligor who has a disability and who is required to pay support for a child who receives periodic benefits as a result of the obligor's disability…

Sec. 154.133. APPLICATION OF GUIDELINES TO CHILDREN OF OBLIGORS RECEIVING SOCIAL SECURITY. In applying the child support guidelines for an obligor who is receiving social security old age benefits and who is required to pay support for a child who receives benefits as a result of…

Sec. 154.181. MEDICAL SUPPORT ORDER. (a) The court shall render an order for the medical support of the child as provided by this section and Section 154.182 in: (1) a proceeding in which periodic payments of child support are ordered under this chapter or modified under Chapter …

Sec. 154.1815. DENTAL SUPPORT ORDER. (a) In this section, "reasonable cost" means the cost of a dental insurance premium that does not exceed 1.5 percent of the obligor's annual resources, as described by Section 154.062(b), if the obligor is responsible under a dental support or…

Sec. 154.182. HEALTH CARE COVERAGE FOR CHILD. (a) The court shall consider the cost, accessibility, and quality of health insurance coverage available to the parties and shall give priority to health insurance coverage available through the employment of one of the parties if the…

Sec. 154.1825. DENTAL CARE COVERAGE FOR CHILD. (a) In this section: (1) "Accessibility" means the extent to which dental insurance coverage for a child provides for the availability of dental care within a reasonable traveling distance and time from the child's primary residence,…

Sec. 154.1826. HEALTH CARE PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN IN TITLE IV-D CASES. (a) In this section: (1) "Health benefit plan issuer" means an insurer, health maintenance organization, or other entity authorized to provide health benefits coverage under the laws of this state. (2) "…

Sec. 154.1827. ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENT OF MEDICAL SUPPORT ORDER. (a) In each Title IV-D case in which a medical support order requires that a child be enrolled in a health care program under Section 154.1826, the Title IV-D agency may administratively adjust the order as necess…

Sec. 154.183. MEDICAL AND DENTAL SUPPORT ADDITIONAL SUPPORT DUTY OF OBLIGOR. (a) An amount that an obligor is ordered to pay as medical support or dental support for the child under this chapter, including the costs of health insurance coverage or cash medical support under Secti…

Sec. 154.184. EFFECT OF ORDER. (a) Receipt of a medical support order requiring that health insurance be provided for a child or a dental support order requiring that dental insurance be provided for a child shall be considered a change in the family circumstances of the employee…

Sec. 154.185. PARENT TO FURNISH INFORMATION. (a) The court shall order a parent providing health insurance or dental insurance to furnish to either the obligee, obligor, or child support agency the following information not later than the 30th day after the date the notice of ren…