Bill Text: TX HB2163 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to requiring a man determined by adjudication or acknowledgment to be a child's father to pay retroactive child support beginning on the date of the child's conception.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-09 - Referred to Juvenile Justice & Family Issues [HB2163 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2163-Introduced.html
88R8895 MLH-D | ||
By: Rogers | H.B. No. 2163 |
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relating to requiring a man determined by adjudication or | ||
acknowledgment to be a child's father to pay retroactive child | ||
support beginning on the date of the child's conception. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 154, Family Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 154.0091 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 154.0091. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT ON ADJUDICATION OR | ||
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY. (a) Notwithstanding any other | ||
provision of this chapter or other law, in any order rendered under | ||
Chapter 160 establishing a man's paternity of a child, or in any | ||
suit to establish the child support obligation of a man whose | ||
paternity has been established by the execution of a valid | ||
acknowledgment of paternity in regard to the child under Subchapter | ||
D, Chapter 160, the court shall order the man to: | ||
(1) pay retroactive child support beginning on the | ||
earliest possible date of the child's conception, as determined by | ||
standard medical practice, as defined by Section 171.201, Health | ||
and Safety Code; and | ||
(2) reimburse the child's mother for an equitable | ||
portion of: | ||
(A) the reasonable and necessary medical | ||
expenses incurred by the mother and the child during gestation and | ||
delivery and incurred by the mother during postpartum recovery that | ||
are not reimbursed by medical insurance; | ||
(B) the cost of materials purchased by the mother | ||
in preparing for the child's birth that are necessary for the | ||
child's health and safety, including: | ||
(i) diapers; | ||
(ii) a car seat; | ||
(iii) a crib; | ||
(iv) clothing; and | ||
(v) infant formula; and | ||
(C) lost wages as a result of time spent | ||
receiving medical attention during gestation, delivery, and | ||
postpartum recovery. | ||
(b) In ordering retroactive child support under Subsection | ||
(a)(1), the court shall apply the child support guidelines provided | ||
by this chapter. In ordering reimbursement under Subsection | ||
(a)(2), the court shall consider the specific circumstances of the | ||
mother's gestation, delivery, and any other relevant factor in | ||
determining the amount constituting the equitable portion owed by | ||
the man under that provision. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding Section 157.261 or any other law, | ||
interest does not begin to accrue on a retroactive child support | ||
payment due under this section until the first anniversary of the | ||
date the judge renders the order establishing the man's paternity | ||
or the man executes a valid acknowledgment of paternity with | ||
respect to the child, as applicable. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 160.636(g), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(g) On a finding of parentage, the court shall [ |
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retroactive child support as provided by Section 154.0091 [ |
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SECTION 3. Section 160.636(h), Family Code, is repealed. | ||
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act with respect | ||
to an order adjudicating paternity apply only to an order rendered | ||
on or after the effective date of this Act. An order adjudicating | ||
paternity rendered before the effective date of this Act is | ||
governed by the law in effect on the date the order is rendered, and | ||
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act with respect | ||
to an acknowledgment of paternity apply only to an acknowledgment | ||
of paternity executed on or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
An acknowledgment of paternity executed before the effective date | ||
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the | ||
acknowledgment is executed, and the former law is continued in | ||
effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |