Paternity Texas

Under Texas law, the mother's husband is always presumed to be the father of her children, born during the marriage. A paternity suit may be brought to have the biological father named as the legal father. Typically, a paternity suit is brought by the mother; the husband; the man who claims to be the father; a government agency; or a child-placing agency.  This type of suit is brought if a husband and wife are divorced and either spouse claims that the other spouse is not the biological parent of the child. This type of suit can also be initiated by a person claiming to be a biological parent.

A parentage suit is filed to determine the biological father or mother of the child.  Such a suit is usually filed by either the mother; the man claiming to be the father; the child; or a governmental agency. A suit can be filed at any time before the child is born and up until two years after the child is an adult. In Texas a child is an adult at  18 years of age.  Suts may be filed to establish the child's legal relationship with a biological parent. Suits may also be filed to establish child support, visitation, or custody obligations. In some cases, the reimbursement of costs due to the biological mother for pre-natal and post-natal expenses may be the subject matter of a suit.

If the parties to a suit do not agree on the parentage, the court may decide to order blood test on each of the parties. If the parties to such a suit cannot agree, the court will decide what the outcome should be and also determine who shall bear the costs, or if the costs should be shared by the parties. Usually, a lab will prepare a paternity report for the court based on the test results. If the test proves that the named parent is not the biological parent, the court will probably dismiss the case. If the lab test proves that the named parent is at least 99% sure to be the parent , because no test is 100% certain, the court will then decide what custody, visitation, and support is appropriate after the parties have failed to find a resolution or agreement.

Any case can generally be settled between the parties and their attorneys or through mediation, which is discussed in the "Mediation" section. If a settlement occurs without mediation, the courts may choose to appoint an attorney to represent the child, making sure that the child's interest is protected. The court must approve the any settlement before it is able to be implemented by either of the parties. Voluntary paternity or parentage suits are filed when either parent acknowledges that they are the biological parents of the child and the parents are not legally married.