If a child's mother is not married to the child's father, it may be necessary for one of them to file a paternity lawsuit to judicially establish the father's rights and responsibilities and to specify each parent's rights, duties, and responsibilities for the child.  Where the issue of paternity is contested, whether in a divorce action, or otherwise, Texas law provides a procedure for blood testing to resolve the issue genetically.

The Texas law for establishing and/or disproving paternity claims was substantially revised in June, 2001, when Texas began implementation of the Uniform Parentage Act. Under this Act, the State of Texas established a statewide paternity registry, and developed a procedure to ensure that men are notified of any lawsuit that may affect their parental rights, provided that they file an acknowledgment of paternity, or have registered with the statewide paternity registry that they may have fathered a child out of wedlock. Through the paternity registry, if the child’s mother approves and agrees with the acknowledgment of paternity, the parent-child relationship can be administratively established for the father and the child’s birth certificate can reflect the father.

Many of the provisions of this new Uniform Parentage Act are very beneficial to the children of Texas.  However, the paternity registry leaves many things to be resolved through the Courts.  For example, the registry does not provide parties with a child support order and does not specify the rights, duties, possession and visitation for the parents of children born out of wedlock.

The paternity registry is not appropriate for parties who desire paternity testing. Moreover, a person who executes an acknowledgment of paternity, but later wants paternity testing, has only a limited time in which to rescind the acknowledgment.  More importantly, the paternity registry program is strictly voluntary.  In many circumstances, the alleged father of a child is unwilling to sign an acknowledgment of paternity prior to entry of a court order.

A mother or alleged father of a child born out of wedlock should consult an experienced family law attorney to determine the best course of action to choose with this time-sensitive matter.