[hpt1020]

I am from North Carolina, but my issue involves the sate of Texas. After 14 years my husband has found out that his youngest daughter (14 years old now) may not be his. The man who is supposedly her biological father, called my husband's older daughter and told her he has known from day one that the youngest daugther was his , that the mother told him so. They live in the state of TX and that is where the divorce took place. I am wandering what can be done about this if anything. Do we have a right to a court order DNA test? Can child supporst be stopped and can we get her for backpay if it turns out that she is not my husband's daughter?

[aaron]

How was he determined to be the legal father? By marriage at the time the child was conceived and born, or by some other means?

[hpt1020]

They were married at the time the child was conceived.

[Mr. Knowitall]

I believe the statutes at issue are these:

§ 160.204. PRESUMPTION OF PATERNITY.
(a) A man is presumed to be the father of a child if:

(1) he is married to the mother of the child and the child is born during the marriage;

(2) he is married to the mother of the child and the child is born before the 301st day after the date the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce;

(3) he married the mother of the child before the birth of the child in apparent compliance with law, even if the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born during the invalid marriage or before the 301st day after the date the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce;

(4) he married the mother of the child after the birth of the child in apparent compliance with law, regardless of whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid, he voluntarily asserted his paternity of the child, and:

(A) the assertion is in a record filed with the bureau of vital statistics;

(B) he is voluntarily named as the child ’s father on the child ’s birth certificate; or

(C) he promised in a record to support the child as his own; or

(5) during the first two years of the child ’s life, he continuously resided in the household in which the child resided and he represented to others that the child was his own.

(b) A presumption of paternity established under this section may be rebutted only by:

(1) an adjudication under Subchapter G; or

(2) the filing of a valid denial of paternity by a presumed father in conjunction with the filing by another person of a valid acknowledgment of paternity as provided by Section 160.305.

§ 160.607. TIME LIMITATION: CHILD HAVING PRESUMED FATHER.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b), a proceeding brought by a presumed father, the mother, or another individual to adjudicate the parentage of a child having a presumed father shall be commenced not later than the fourth anniversary of the date of the birth of the child.

(b) A proceeding seeking to disprove the father-child relationship between a child and the child ’s presumed father may be maintained at any time if the court determines that:

(1) the presumed father and the mother of the child did not live together or engage in sexual intercourse with each other during the probable time of conception; and

(2) the presumed father never represented to others that the child was his own.

It does not sound like your husband would be able to plead that exception to the four year limitation. I suggest consulting a family lawyer.