TBE--Family--Quick & Dirty Rules

Question 1

How does a court decide whether it has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant?

Answer 1

1) Longarm statute: courts may assert personal jurisdiction over non-residents for purposes of determining parentage, child custody, and child support obligations when nonresident had sexual intercourse in Tx and child may have been conceived through that act.
2) Constitutional: court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction must be Constitutional (meaning D must have had sufficient minimum contacts with the forum such that forum’s exercise of personal jurisdiction would be fair and reasonable).
2) Def of Sufficient Contacts:whether D has Sufficient Minimum Contacts with the forum means: whether contacts are purposeful, whether it was foreseeable that D could be subject to lawsuit in forum based on those contacts, and whether it is fair to have D sued in the forum (meaning D would not be so gravely inconvenient to the D that he would be severely disadvantaged if required to litigate there, while taking into consideration the forum’s interest in providing a forum for one of its citizen’s).

Question 2

WHO CAN BRING A PATERNITY SUIT AGAINST D?

Do grandparents have standing to bring paternity suit against D (if child is minor v. adult child)?

Answer 2

1) mother,
2) the child,
3) a relative of the child’s mother if the mother is deceased, or
4) a representative authorized by law to act.

• If child is adult, paternity suit can only be brought by child IF adult child has:
• no presumed, adjudicated, or acknowledged father (however, this limitation does not preclude mentally disabled child to bring paternity suit through court-appointed guardian).

Question 3

RE: Genetic testing

How does a court adjudicate parentage through genetic testing? Can court order genetic testing? What are consequences of refusing?

How to rebut genetic testing evidence?

Answer 3

1) Court can order under fam code.
2) Court can refuse to order when child has presumed father AND allowing order is not in Best Interest Of Child.

3) Refusing? Father can be held in CONTEMPT. Also, consequence of refusing is DEFAULT JUDGEMENT rendering alleged father to be deemed father.

4) Rebut?
only evidence that can rebut a genetic test (99% positive) is
(1) another genetic test showing that the presumed father is not the biological father or that another man is the biological father OR
(2) a written denial of paternity from the presumed father and a written acknowledgment of paternity from someone else.

Question 4

DUTIES OF ADJUDICATED PARENT (ongoing/retroactive)?

Answer 4

1) Pay future and retro child support
* Continues for indefinite time if
a. child mentally/physically disabled before 18;
b. disability req. substantial care and personal supervision