Show up paid up, with proof the delay was out of your control.
The bill bars a judge from holding a parent in contempt for not paying child support if the parent shows up at the hearing caught up on payments and with proof that the late payments were caused by a third party's mistake or something outside the parent's control. It touches parents who owe child support, the parents and children who receive it, and family courts handling enforcement hearings. Starting with hearings that begin on or after September 1, 2025, a parent who is current and can prove the delay was not their fault cannot be jailed or punished for contempt over that delay.
Labels
Labels: ZOMBIE BILL. Died 2 times: 88R HB 1695 (Did not pass) and this bill (Died in committee). Checked against 88R only.BACK FROM THE DEAD. Same text as a bill filed before that died: 88R HB 1695 (Did not pass). Filed in 2 sessions, counting this one. Checked against 88R only.TRY NO. 2. Filed in 2 sessions: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the House on May 13, 2025. Died in the Senate: never got out of the Jurisprudence committee.
relating to the enforcement of an order to pay child support by
contempt.
WHAT IT DOES
Show up paid up, with proof the delay was out of your control.
The bill bars a judge from holding a parent in contempt for not paying child support if the parent shows up at the hearing caught up on payments and with proof that the late payments were caused by a third party's mistake or something outside the parent's control. It touches parents who owe child support, the parents and children who receive it, and family courts handling enforcement hearings. Starting with hearings that begin on or after September 1, 2025, a parent who is current and can prove the delay was not their fault cannot be jailed or punished for contempt over that delay.
CHARGES
[ ] NONE FOUND
TOTAL
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
House committee · Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence · Committee vote 9 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee
Senate committee · Jurisprudence · Final status: Died in committee
Subjects
Family--Child Support
Text
The text as introduced · 227 words
89R856 AMF-D
By: Jones of Harris
H.B. No. 557
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of an order to pay child support by
contempt.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 157.162, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The court may not find a respondent in contempt of court
for failure to pay child support if the respondent appears at the
hearing with:
(1) a copy of the payment record or other evidence
satisfactory to the court showing that the respondent is current in
the payment of child support as ordered by the court; and
(2) evidence satisfactory to the court showing that
the respondent's failure to make timely payments was due to an error
made by a third party or other circumstances outside the
respondent's control.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a hearing to enforce an order in a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship that commences on or after the effective
date of this Act. A hearing that commences before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
hearing commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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