My question involves paternity law for the State of: Texas
I have been divorced for 16 years and in those 16 years, my ex-husband and I have been in and out of Court due to non-payment of child support. There are two children of the marriage, ages 15 and 18. In 2006, the Court placed him on unsupervised probation provided that he made payments every month. To date, he has failed to comply with the orders and was served with a Notice to Revoke Probation.
Last week, I was served with a Notice along with a Petition to Terminate Parent-Child Relationship. My ex-husband is saying that he is not the DNA biological father of my youngest daughter and is requesting to terminate his parental rights and duties. Attached to the Petition was my ex-husband’s Affidavit for Voluntary Relinquishment of Parental Rights. The Affidavit states the following:
a) He designates me as a prospective adoptive parent for the child and freely and voluntarily relinquishes his right and duties to me
b) He does not wish to appear in Court or be represented by an attorney to testify about his desires with respect to the child
c) Because he does not wish to appear in Court, he waives and gives up his right to issuance, service and return of citation, notice and all other process in any suit to terminate his parental rights.
d) He does not want to be informed further about the lawsuit but agrees that a final hearing in the lawsuit be held at any time without further notice to him.
e) He does not want to be mailed or given a copy of the Judgment terminating his parental rights and does not want to be notified of the signing, rendition or entry of that Judgment.
My question is—who decides whether the termination goes into effect? What happens to the arrearages owed? What exactly am I being sued for? Does he have the right to waive appearing in Court considering it is a lawsuit that he initiated? What happens after the Petition is filed? I cannot financially afford to hire an attorney at this time and would also like to know what can happen should I decide not to answer. I am confused. Any advice you can give is very much appreciated.

