I previously talked about the ways to establish paternity in Texas, but today I wanted to go a little more in depth and discuss some of the time restraints regarding paternity.

The Texas Family Code has no time limitation to bring a lawsuit to adjudicate the parentage of a child who has no presumed, alleged, or adjudicated father.  However, if the child does have a presumed father (mother and father are married) then any lawsuit to adjudicate the parentage must be brought within four years of the child’s birth.
Courts have said the four year deadline is meant to limit the time to establish parentage when there is a presumptive father so as to protect the family unit.

The four year limitation may be overcome if:

1. the presumed father did not live with the mother or engaged in sexual intercourse with her during the probable time of conception; or
2. The presumed father didn’t commence a parentage suit within 4 years because he mistakenly believed he was the father based on a misrepresentation that led him to that conclusion.

​So, although the four year limitation may be overcome, the more time that goes by the harder it may be.  If a man believes he may be the father of a child whose mother is married that man should bring forth a suit to determine paternity by the time the child is four years old.  And consequently, a married man who believes a child may not be his should not wait past four years to request a paternity test.  

​Part of any Texas divorce is dividing the community property owned by the spouses.  The first step in dividing the property is determining how much the property is worth. 

Some property, such as a bank account, will have a set value.  But many other assets will be more difficult to determine the value.  For example, the parties may own a house, but what is that house really worth- what could it be sold for?  There may be a retirement account, but if you take money out of the account you will most likely incur a 10% tax penalty plus regular income taxes. 

Texas divorces will appraise the property according to the fair market value.  Fair market value is just what would “a willing buy who desire to buy, but is not required to buy, to a willing seller who desires to sell, but is under no necessity of selling.” 
​
If the parties can’t agree on values, the court will determine the value based on the evidence presented.  This can be in the form of documents, such as receipts, it can be the testimony of what the spouse believes it to be worth, or even expert testimony, such as a real estate appraiser.  The type of evidence needed will be based on many factors including the value of the item and how unique it is.