Tex. Fam. Code § 159.201 · Subchapter C. JURISDICTION
BASES FOR JURISDICTION OVER NONRESIDENT.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual's guardian or conservator if:
(1) the individual is personally served with citation in this state;
(2) the individual submits to the jurisdiction of this state by consent in a record, by entering a general appearance, or by filing a responsive document having the effect of waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction;
(3) the individual resided with the child in this state;
(4) the individual resided in this state and provided prenatal expenses or support for the child;
(5) the child resides in this state as a result of the acts or directives of the individual;
(6) the individual engaged in sexual intercourse in this state and the child may have been conceived by that act of intercourse;
(7) the individual asserted parentage of a child in the paternity registry maintained in this state by the vital statistics unit; or
(8) there is any other basis consistent with the constitutions of this state and the United States for the exercise of personal jurisdiction.
(b) The bases of personal jurisdiction listed in Subsection (a) or in any other law of this state may not be used to acquire personal jurisdiction for a tribunal of this state to modify a child support order of another state unless the requirements of Section 159.611 are met, or, in the case of a foreign support order, unless the requirements of Section 159.615 are met.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 561, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1247, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 1.054, eff. April 2, 2015.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 368 (H.B. 3538), Sec. 5, eff. July 1, 2015.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/FA/htm/FA.159.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 68761ab6c32a9bdb87a79744336e46c6673535410d41702f368c3b3cbaf2b43e
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 4 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Fam. Code § 159.201. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Family Code
- Tex. Fam. Code § 159.611MODIFICATION OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDER OF ANOTHER STATE.Printed as Section 159.201(b)
- Tex. Fam. Code § 159.708RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF REGISTERED CONVENTION SUPPORT ORDER.Printed as Section 159.201
- Tex. Fam. Code § 160.604PERSONAL JURISDICTION.Printed as Section 159.201
- Tex. Fam. Code § 160.637BINDING EFFECT OF DETERMINATION OF PARENTAGE.Printed as Section 159.201
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.