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Texas: back support for 4 years or since birth??

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tlttx

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Texas

My husband is being asked for child support. The child is 11 1/2 and the mother has never pursued proof of paternity or requested support to date. A letter from her lawyer made reference to child support arrears back to the date of birth of the child. However, I've found information in the Texas Family Code that indicates arrears will go back only 4 years if paternity has never been established and child support has never been pursued. What is the Texas law on back support?
 


BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
And also read Texas Family Code Chapter 154 before telling your hubby to get his butt to a GOOD attorney.

§ 154.009. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT. (a) The court
may order a parent to pay retroactive child support if the parent:
(1) has not previously been ordered to pay support for
the child; and
(2) was not a party to a suit in which support was
ordered.
(b) In ordering retroactive child support, the court shall
apply the child support guidelines provided by this chapter.
(c) Unless the Title IV-D agency is a party to an agreement
concerning support or purporting to settle past, present, or future
support obligations by prepayment or otherwise, an agreement
between the parties does not reduce or terminate retroactive
support that the agency may request.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the court may order a
parent subject to a previous child support order to pay retroactive
child support if:
(1) the previous child support order terminated as a
result of the marriage or remarriage of the child's parents;
(2) the child's parents separated after the marriage
or remarriage; and
(3) a new child support order is sought after the date
of the separation.
(e) In rendering an order under Subsection (d), the court
may order retroactive child support back to the date of the
separation of the child's parents.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, § 1, eff. April 20, 1995.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1023, § 4, eff. Sept. 1,
2001.


§ 154.131. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT. (a) The child
support guidelines are intended to guide the court in determining
the amount of retroactive child support, if any, to be ordered.
(b) In ordering retroactive child support, the court shall
consider the net resources of the obligor during the relevant time
period and whether:
(1) the mother of the child had made any previous
attempts to notify the obligor of his paternity or probable
paternity;
(2) the obligor had knowledge of his paternity or
probable paternity;
(3) the order of retroactive child support will impose
an undue financial hardship on the obligor or the obligor's family;
and
(4) the obligor has provided actual support or other
necessaries before the filing of the action.
(c) It is presumed that a court order limiting the amount of
retroactive child support to an amount that does not exceed the
total amount of support that would have been due for the four years
preceding the date the petition seeking support was filed is
reasonable and in the best interest of the child.
(d) The presumption created under this section may be
rebutted by evidence that the obligor:
(1) knew or should have known that the obligor was the
father of the child for whom support is sought; and
(2) sought to avoid the establishment of a support
obligation to the child.
(e) An order under this section limiting the amount of
retroactive support does not constitute a variance from the
guidelines requiring the court to make specific findings under
Section 154.130.
 

OU812

Junior Member
The same thing happened to my husband. Didn't even know he had a child until the kid was 14. Our attorney advised us that the judge *could* go back to birth, and he ended up settling with the Attorney General's office for 4 years. Totally sucks, I know!
 

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