HBA-LJP H.B. 638 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 638
By: Turner, Sylvester
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
2/25/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, if a man voluntarily accepts parental responsibility and
is later proven not to be the biological father of the child, it is
possible that the man may have to continue to pay child support.  House
Bill 638 authorizes either parent to petition a court for the termination
of a parent-child relationship between a child and a man who has been
excluded as the father of the child through scientifically accepted
parentage testing. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 638 amends the Family Code to authorize either parent, at any
time, to contest an acknowledgment of paternity by filing a suit affecting
the parent-child relationship if a signed acknowledgment of paternity is
filed with the bureau of vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health
and after this filing the child's father has been excluded as the father of
the child through scientifically accepted parentage testing. 

The bill authorizes either parent to file a suit for a termination of the
parent-child relationship of a father who executed a voluntary statement of
paternity before September 1, 1999.  The bill requires the court to order
termination in this suit under the following conditions if the court finds
that the father: 

 _executed a statement, and on the basis of the statement, is the subject
of a final order declaring him to be a parent of the child; and 
 
 _after executing the statement of paternity, has been excluded as the
father of the child through scientifically accepted parentage testing that
meets certain requirements. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.