Year: 2012

The Texas Legislature made changes in 2011 that impact many in the area of Texas Family Law. All of these Texas Family Law updates are now in effect: Voluntary termination of parental rights for men mistakenly adjudicated a child’s biological father. Senate Bill 785, codified into §161.005 of the Texas Family Code and effective as of September 1, 2011, now enables a man who has been adjudicated by the court to be the father of a child, or who willingly executed an affidavit of paternity believing he was the father, to terminate his parental rights after learning that he is not the biological father of a child. Note that a petition to terminate parentage under this new law must be filed within one year of the date the father becomes aware of…

In addition to the changes I discussed in my earlier blog entitled “Texas Family Law changes by the Texas Legislature in 2011,” significant revisions were made to the Spousal Maintenance (Alimony) statute by the Texas Legislature in 2011. In 1997, the Texas Legislature passed the first Spousal Maintenance (Alimony) statute under Texas Family Law. Until 2011, that statute remained basically unchanged.  They made up for that in 2011. The primary changes cover: Duration of a Maintenance Order The most significant change was to increase the maximum duration of a spousal maintenance order. In the old statute, maintenance could not be ordered for more than three years, regardless of the length of the marriage, unless the spouse seeking maintenance could not meet minimum reasonable needs through appropriate employment or developing…