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Predatory Paternity Establishment: A Critical Analysis Of The Acknowledgment Of Paternity Process In Texas., Anne Greenwood
Predatory Paternity Establishment: A Critical Analysis Of The Acknowledgment Of Paternity Process In Texas., Anne Greenwood
St. Mary's Law Journal
Child support programs across the nation are struggling to achieve even meager recovery of the financial support children need from their parents. Obtaining child support payments from men who are not fathers and who unknowingly signed their rights away is not a sound long-term policy. States must ensure that children are supported and their custodial mothers receive assistance from non-custodial fathers. Logically, the law should only compel a man to support a child he fathered. If a man chooses to assume not only the financial obligation but also the relationship which belongs to the biological father; then such agreement must …
Child Support For Adult Disabled Children: New Texas Legislation., Dan R. Price
Child Support For Adult Disabled Children: New Texas Legislation., Dan R. Price
St. Mary's Law Journal
In 1989, the Texas legislature modified the Texas Family Code by relaxing the criteria necessary to allow awards of support to adult disabled children. Texas has historically recognized, through both state and case law, that parents have both a moral and legal obligation to support minor unemancipated children, but only until the age of majority. An exception to the limitation of parental support only until the age of majority is the “disability exception.” Many jurisdictions recognize that when a minor child suffers from a disability and is incapable or unable to take care of themselves, parental support may extend past …
Lawyers' Negligence Liability To Non-Clients: A Texas Viewpoint., Brian J. Davis
Lawyers' Negligence Liability To Non-Clients: A Texas Viewpoint., Brian J. Davis
St. Mary's Law Journal
Courts should examine the relationship of a non-client to a negligent lawyer to determine whether a lawyer is liable to a non-client despite lack of privity. In most jurisdictions, attorneys enjoy the privity of contract requirement which limits their duty to exercise reasonable care. As a result, lawyers are normally immune to negligent malpractice actions brought by non-clients. Courts should examine the relationship between the attorney and the non-client to determine whether the requirement of privity is an overly restrictive limit on the lawyer’s scope of duty. These relationships can be classified into three categories. The first category involves plaintiffs …