Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
An unmarried couple has a child together. The father is not on the daughter's birth certificate. The couple splits up a few years later, and the father is never asked to pay any child support or leagally granted custody. However, the father and daughter do have a healthy relationship. Years later... the daughter is 25 years old and now wants to be legally recognized as his child. She has brought him paperwork to have him legally recognized as her father. If he signs the papers, can the daughter, or the mother, file to have the father sewed for years of back child support?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Generally, in Texas, there is no statute of limitations for a paternity action (see section 160.606, Texas Family Code).
Conceivably (this is not likely to happen), Mom could go to court and as for retroactive child support. The law says that there is a presumption that she can't get more than four years' worth of back child support (section 154.131 of the Family Code).
All it takes to file a law suit is the filing and service fees, so there is nothing to keep the Mom from filing for back support, but filing and winning are two different things. Signing or not signing the papers has nothing to do with what can or can't be done.
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