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Texas Family Code - Section 159.316. Special Rules Of Evidence And Procedure

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Family Code > Texas Family Code - Section 159.316. Special Rules Of Evidence And Procedure

§ 159.316. SPECIAL RULES OF EVIDENCE AND PROCEDURE.  (a) 
The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in 
a tribunal of this state is not required for the establishment, 
enforcement, or modification of a support order or the rendition of 
a judgment determining parentage.
	(b)  An affidavit, a document substantially complying with 
federally mandated forms, or a document incorporated by reference 
in an affidavit or document, that would not be under the hearsay 
rule if given in person, is admissible in evidence if given under 
penalty of perjury by a party or witness residing in another state.
	(c)  A copy of the record of child support payments certified 
as a true copy of the original by the custodian of the record may be 
forwarded to a responding tribunal.  The copy is evidence of facts 
asserted in it and is admissible to show whether payments were made.
	(d)  Copies of bills for testing for parentage and for 
prenatal and postnatal health care of the mother and child that are 
furnished to the adverse party not less than 10 days before the date 
of trial are admissible in evidence to prove the amount of the 
charges billed and that the charges were reasonable, necessary, and 
customary.
	(e)  Documentary evidence transmitted from another state to 
a tribunal of this state by telephone, telecopier, or another means 
that does not provide an original record may not be excluded from 
evidence on an objection based on the means of transmission.
	(f)  In a proceeding under this chapter, a tribunal of this 
state shall permit a party or witness residing in another state to 
be deposed or to testify by telephone, audiovisual means, or other 
electronic means at a designated tribunal or other location in that 
state.  A tribunal of this state shall cooperate with a tribunal of 
another state in designating an appropriate location for the 
deposition or testimony.
	(g)  If a party called to testify at a civil hearing refuses 
to answer on the ground that the testimony may be 
self-incriminating, the trier of fact may draw an adverse inference 
from the refusal.
	(h)  A privilege against disclosure of communications 
between spouses does not apply in a proceeding under this chapter.
	(i)  The defense of immunity based on the relationship of 
husband and wife or parent and child does not apply in a proceeding 
under this chapter.
	(j)  A voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, certified as a 
true copy, is admissible to establish parentage of the child.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, § 1, eff. April 20, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1247, § 23, eff. Sept. 1, 
2003;  Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 344, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.

Last modified: August 11, 2007