88R8895 MLH-D
	By: Rogers	H.B. No. 2163

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	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 [may] order
	retroactive child support as provided by Section 154.0091 [Chapter
	154 and, on a proper showing, order a party to pay an equitable
	portion of all of the prenatal and postnatal health care expenses of
	the mother and the child].
	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.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Family Code 160.636 (Family Code 160)