What's New in Texas Paternity Law

Even if the paternity of a child has been established by court order, the child may have an independent right to determine who his or her biological father actually is.

In re: J.W, 97 S. W. 3d 818 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2003, pet. denied), a recent case dealing with a similar situation, was a divorce, no paternity testing was conducted, and no attorney ad litem represented the child in the lawsuit yielding the underlying child support order.

So the court ruled that the child in that case was not bound by the paternity determination from the earlier case. See also Texas Family Code section 160.602(1), granting a child the right to bring an action on his own behalf to establish his own legally protected relationship with his biological father. (Effective as of June 14, 2001.)

Results may differ based on the facts of a particular case.