Presumed Father

In Texas, the meaning of presumed father means that a man is recognized as the father of a child until it can be confirmed or denied.  The process of confirmation can be done in two ways.  One way is by agreed an Acknowledgment of Paternity signed by the child’s mother.  In addition, the second way is by a court hearing. Furthermore, the legal father may not necessarily the biological father.  Moreover, it is important to understand that the legal father is a person that is recognized as the child’s father by law.  Check out family code chapter 150 to learn more about a presumed father.

How Presumption of Paternity is Determined by the Courts

In Texas, 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) H  was married to the mother of the child and the child was born before the 301st day after the date the marriage was terminated.  The marriage must be terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce.

(3) He married the mother of the child before the birth of the child in agreement with the law. If the attempted marriage is declared invalid or is invalid but the child is born during the invalid marriage or before the 301st day after the date the marriage is ended by divorce, death, annulment, declaration of invalidity.

(4) He married the mother of the child after the birth of the child in total compliance with the law. It doesn’t matter if the marriage is or could be declared invalid.  What matters is that he voluntarily took over his paternity of the child, and:

(A) the attempt is in a record filed with the vital statistics unit;

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

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

(5) During the first two years of the child’s life, he lived continuously in the household in which the child also lived.  Furthermore,  he declared to others that the child was his own and acting as if the child were his own.

A Presumption of Paternity Can be Rebutted Only by:

(1) an adjudication under Subchapter G; or

(2) the filing of a valid denial of paternity by a presumed father.

Also, there must be a filing by another person of a valid acknowledgment of paternity as stated by Section 160.305