Title FA, Family Code

Sec. 160.604. PERSONAL JURISDICTION. (a) An individual may not be adjudicated to be a parent unless the court has personal jurisdiction over the individual. (b) A court of this state having jurisdiction to adjudicate parentage may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident…

Sec. 160.605. VENUE. Venue for a proceeding to adjudicate parentage is in the county of this state in which: (1) the child resides or is found; (2) the respondent resides or is found if the child does not reside in this state; or (3) a proceeding for probate or administration of …

Sec. 160.606. NO TIME LIMITATION: CHILD HAVING NO PRESUMED, ACKNOWLEDGED, OR ADJUDICATED FATHER. A proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a child having no presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father may be commenced at any time, including after the date: (1) the child becom…

Sec. 160.607. TIME LIMITATION: CHILD HAVING PRESUMED FATHER. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b), a proceeding brought by a presumed father, the mother, or another individual to adjudicate the parentage of a child having a presumed father shall be commenced not lat…

Sec. 160.608. AUTHORITY TO DENY MOTION FOR GENETIC TESTING. (a) In a proceeding to adjudicate parentage, 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…

Sec. 160.609. TIME LIMITATION: CHILD HAVING ACKNOWLEDGED OR ADJUDICATED FATHER. (a) If a child has an acknowledged father, a signatory to the acknowledgment or denial of paternity may commence a proceeding under this chapter to challenge the paternity of the child only within the…

Sec. 160.610. JOINDER OF PROCEEDINGS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may be joined with a proceeding for adoption, termination of parental rights, possession of or access to a child, child support, divorce, annulment, or probate or …

Sec. 160.611. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE BIRTH. (a) A proceeding to determine parentage commenced before the birth of the child may not be concluded until after the birth of the child. (b) In a proceeding described by Subsection (a), the following actions may be taken before the birth of…

Sec. 160.612. CHILD AS PARTY; REPRESENTATION. (a) A minor child is a permissible party, but is not a necessary party to a proceeding under this subchapter. (b) The court shall appoint an amicus attorney or attorney ad litem to represent a child who is a minor or is incapacitated …

Sec. 160.621. ADMISSIBILITY OF RESULTS OF GENETIC TESTING; EXPENSES. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (c), a report of a genetic testing expert is admissible as evidence of the truth of the facts asserted in the report. The admissibility of the report is not affecte…

Sec. 160.622. CONSEQUENCES OF DECLINING GENETIC TESTING. (a) An order for genetic testing is enforceable by contempt. (b) A court may adjudicate parentage contrary to the position of an individual whose paternity is being determined on the grounds that the individual declines to …

Sec. 160.623. ADMISSION OF PATERNITY AUTHORIZED. (a) A respondent in a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may admit to the paternity of a child by filing a pleading to that effect or by admitting paternity under penalty of perjury when making an appearance or during a hearing. (b…

Sec. 160.624. TEMPORARY ORDER. (a) In a proceeding under this subchapter, the court shall render a temporary order for child support for a child if the order is appropriate and the individual ordered to pay child support: (1) is a presumed father of the child; (2) is petitioning …

Sec. 160.631. RULES FOR ADJUDICATION OF PATERNITY. (a) The court shall apply the rules stated in this section to adjudicate the paternity of a child. (b) The paternity of a child having a presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father may be disproved only by admissible results of…

Sec. 160.632. JURY PROHIBITED. The court shall adjudicate paternity of a child without a jury. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1.01, eff. June 14, 2001.

Sec. 160.633. HEARINGS; INSPECTION OF RECORDS. (a) A proceeding under this subchapter is open to the public as in other civil cases. (b) Papers and records in a proceeding under this subchapter are available for public inspection. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1.01…

Sec. 160.634. ORDER ON DEFAULT. The court shall issue an order adjudicating the paternity of a man who: (1) after service of process, is in default; and (2) is found by the court to be the father of a child. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1.01, eff. June 14, 2001.

Sec. 160.635. DISMISSAL FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION. The court may issue an order dismissing a proceeding commenced under this chapter for want of prosecution only without prejudice. An order of dismissal for want of prosecution purportedly with prejudice is void and has only the eff…

Sec. 160.636. ORDER ADJUDICATING PARENTAGE; FEES, COSTS, AND EXPENSES. (a) The court shall render an order adjudicating whether a man alleged or claiming to be the father is the parent of the child. (b) An order adjudicating parentage must identify the child by name and date of b…

Sec. 160.637. BINDING EFFECT OF DETERMINATION OF PARENTAGE. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b) or Section 160.316, a determination of parentage is binding on: (1) all signatories to an acknowledgment or denial of paternity as provided by Subchapter D; and (2) all …

Sec. 160.701. SCOPE OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter applies only to a child conceived by means of assisted reproduction. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1.01, eff. June 14, 2001.

Sec. 160.702. PARENTAL STATUS OF DONOR. A donor is not a parent of a child conceived by means of assisted reproduction. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1.01, eff. June 14, 2001.

Sec. 160.703. HUSBAND'S PATERNITY OF CHILD OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION. If a husband provides sperm for or consents to assisted reproduction by his wife as provided by Section 160.704, he is the father of a resulting child. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 1.01, eff. Jun…

Sec. 160.7031. UNMARRIED MAN'S PATERNITY OF CHILD OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION. (a) If an unmarried man, with the intent to be the father of a resulting child, provides sperm to a licensed physician and consents to the use of that sperm for assisted reproduction by an unmarried woman…

Sec. 160.704. CONSENT TO ASSISTED REPRODUCTION. (a) Consent by a married woman to assisted reproduction must be in a record signed by the woman and her husband and kept by a licensed physician. This requirement does not apply to the donation of eggs by a married woman for assiste…

Sec. 160.705. LIMITATION ON HUSBAND'S DISPUTE OF PATERNITY. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b), the husband of a wife who gives birth to a child by means of assisted reproduction may not challenge his paternity of the child unless: (1) before the fourth anniversar…

Sec. 160.706. EFFECT OF DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. (a) If a marriage is dissolved before the placement of eggs, sperm, or embryos, the former spouse is not a parent of the resulting child unless the former spouse consented in a record kept by a licensed physician that if assisted r…

Sec. 160.707. PARENTAL STATUS OF DECEASED SPOUSE. If a spouse dies before the placement of eggs, sperm, or embryos, the deceased spouse is not a parent of the resulting child unless the deceased spouse consented in a record kept by a licensed physician that if assisted reproducti…

Sec. 160.751. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "gestational mother" means a woman who gives birth to a child conceived under a gestational agreement. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 457, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Sec. 160.752. SCOPE OF SUBCHAPTER; CHOICE OF LAW. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or another law, this subchapter authorizes an agreement between a woman and the intended parents of a child in which the woman relinquishes all rights as a parent of a child …

Sec. 160.753. ESTABLISHMENT OF PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or another law, the mother-child relationship exists between a woman and a child by an adjudication confirming the woman as a parent of the child born to a gestationa…

Sec. 160.754. GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT AUTHORIZED. (a) A prospective gestational mother, her husband if she is married, each donor, and each intended parent may enter into a written agreement providing that: (1) the prospective gestational mother agrees to pregnancy by means of assi…

Sec. 160.755. PETITION TO VALIDATE GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT. (a) The intended parents and the prospective gestational mother under a gestational agreement may commence a proceeding to validate the agreement. (b) A person may maintain a proceeding to validate a gestational agreement …

Sec. 160.756. HEARING TO VALIDATE GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT. (a) A gestational agreement must be validated as provided by this section. (b) The court may validate a gestational agreement as provided by Subsection (c) only if the court finds that: (1) the parties have submitted to the…

Sec. 160.757. INSPECTION OF RECORDS. The proceedings, records, and identities of the parties to a gestational agreement under this subchapter are subject to inspection under the same standards of confidentiality that apply to an adoption under the laws of this state. Added by Act…

Sec. 160.758. CONTINUING, EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION. Subject to Section 152.201, a court that conducts a proceeding under this subchapter has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of all matters arising out of the gestational agreement until the date a child born to the gestational mot…

Sec. 160.759. TERMINATION OF GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT. (a) Before a prospective gestational mother becomes pregnant by means of assisted reproduction, the prospective gestational mother, her husband if she is married, or either intended parent may terminate a gestational agreement v…

Sec. 160.760. PARENTAGE UNDER VALIDATED GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT. (a) On the birth of a child to a gestational mother under a validated gestational agreement, the intended parents shall file a notice of the birth with the court not later than the 300th day after the date assisted re…

Sec. 160.761. EFFECT OF GESTATIONAL MOTHER'S MARRIAGE AFTER VALIDATION OF AGREEMENT. If a gestational mother is married after the court renders an order validating a gestational agreement under this subchapter: (1) the validity of the gestational agreement is not affected; (2) th…

Sec. 160.762. EFFECT OF GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT THAT IS NOT VALIDATED. (a) A gestational agreement that is not validated as provided by this subchapter is unenforceable, regardless of whether the agreement is in a record. (b) The parent-child relationship of a child born under a ge…

Sec. 160.763. HEALTH CARE FACILITY REPORTING REQUIREMENT. (a) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission by rule shall develop and implement a confidential reporting system that requires each health care facility in this state at which assisted reprodu…

Sec. 161.001. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP. (a) In this section, "born addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance" means a child: (1) who is born to a mother who during the pregnancy used a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Saf…

Sec. 161.002. TERMINATION OF THE RIGHTS OF AN ALLEGED BIOLOGICAL FATHER. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the procedural and substantive standards for termination of parental rights apply to the termination of the rights of an alleged father. (b) The rights of an…

Sec. 161.003. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION: INABILITY TO CARE FOR CHILD. (a) The court may order termination of the parent-child relationship in a suit filed by the Department of Family and Protective Services if the court finds that: (1) the parent has a mental or emotional illness o…

Sec. 161.004. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AFTER DENIAL OF PRIOR PETITION TO TERMINATE. (a) The court may terminate the parent-child relationship after rendition of an order that previously denied termination of the parent-child relationship if: (1) the petition under this sect…

Sec. 161.005. TERMINATION WHEN PARENT IS PETITIONER. (a) A parent may file a suit for termination of the petitioner's parent-child relationship. Except as provided by Subsection (h), the court may order termination if termination is in the best interest of the child. (b) If the p…