How Unmarried Parents Handle Custody and Support in Texas
Parents have fundamental rights and responsibilities regarding their children, and this is true whether they are married or not. These rights and obligations are automatic for married parents. If, however, the parents are unmarried, it alters the process for establishing child custody and child support. Our Pearland family law attorneys at The Powell Law Firm can help you resolve your related concerns.
Establishing Paternity
When a married couple has a child, the State of Texas presumes that the husband is the child’s father. When the parents aren’t married, however, this presumption doesn’t apply. Instead, paternity must be established before enforceable parental rights or an enforceable financial obligation can apply to the father.
There are two methods of establishing paternity in Texas.
Acknowledgment of Paternity
The acknowledgment of paternity (AOP) is a voluntary declaration that establishes the mother and father’s agreement regarding the father’s paternity. Often, this is accomplished at the hospital at the time of a child’s birth, but it can also be filed at a later date. Once the AOP is signed by both parents and filed with the Texas Vital Statistics Unit, the father’s legal paternity is established without the need for a court order.
Either parent can rescind the AOP within 60 days or before a court proceeding involving the child begins, whichever is earlier. Once this time limit elapses, however, the document can only be legally challenged on grounds of duress, fraud, or a material mistake of fact.
Court Order
If either parent disputes the other’s claim of paternity or refuses to sign an AOP, either parent can petition the court to establish paternity. The Texas Office of the Attorney General can do the same in response to child support and parentage cases. Very often, the court orders genetic testing to resolve the matter.
Addressing Child Custody
Either parent can petition for child custody, which is called conservatorship in Texas, once paternity is established. Conservatorship addresses both parenting time and parental decision-making authority. The court’s default preference, when there is no significant reason for ruling otherwise, is joint managing conservatorship. This means that the parents will make the big-picture parenting decisions together and will share parenting time. One parent may, however, take on the primary conservator role while the other has a possession schedule.
Determining Child Support
Establishing paternity does not automatically create a child support obligation. Child support becomes enforceable only once a court enters an order, either through a case filed by a parent or through the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Until then, any payments between parents are informal and cannot be enforced through the courts.
When the court sets child support, the calculation focuses primarily on the noncustodial parent’s monthly net resources and the number of children covered by the order. For one child, the obligor, meaning the parent with the financial obligation, generally pays 20 percent of their net resources. The percentage increases by 5 percent for each additional child, up to 40 percent for five children. For six or more children, the obligor pays at least 40 percent.
These percentages apply only up to a statutory cap on net resources. Since September 1, 2025, that cap has been $11,700 per month, so guideline support for one child is generally capped at $2,340 per month. A court may order more than the guideline amount if evidence shows the child’s proven needs require it.
Contact Our Pearland Family Law Lawyers Today
For parents who are not married, paternity must be established in order to address parental rights and responsibilities. At The Powell Law Firm, our Pearland family law attorneys have been handling complex paternity, conservatorship, and support cases for more than two decades. Learn more by contacting us online or giving our firm a call at 832-850-6095 today.
