Texas
- The form
- The agency's own form and instructions were read, not just the statute. The form governs what the office will accept, and it can require more than the statute says: Arizona's statute never mentions a notary, and its form requires one.
- Read on October 5, 2026:
- The law
- The statute was read on a government website during the current verification pass.
- How this page was checked
- statute read in the Texas Legislature's own statute files (tcss.legis.texas.gov, Family Code chapters 160 and 161, last modified December 2025), which is what statutes.capitol.texas.gov displays; form VS-130 (1/22), the DSHS registry page and the DSHS paternity FAQ read on dshs.texas.gov. The form is where the mail code, the penalty-of-perjury signature and the duty to report a change of address come from.
Texas Paternity Registry
Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Section
Questions: (888) 963-7111
What Texas requires
File form VS-130, Notice of Intent to Claim Paternity, with the Texas Paternity Registry
Required by statute- What the statute requires
- A man who desires to be notified of a proceeding for the adoption of or the termination of parental rights regarding a child that he may have fathered may register with the registry of paternity: (1) before the birth of the child; or (2) not later than the 31st day after the date of the birth of the child.
- Tex. Fam. Code 160.402(a)
- The statute allows 31 days. But if the child is under one year old when a petition for termination or for adoption is filed and he has not registered, the statute lets his rights be terminated with no requirement to identify or locate him. Whether registering after that petition is filed still counts is a question for a Texas attorney. A father cannot see the petition being filed, so the only safe date is now.
- Tex. Fam. Code 161.002(b)(3), (c-1), (e)
- When it counts as filed
- Neither the statute nor the form says whether it counts when mailed or when received. The safe reading is that it counts only once the office receives it.
- Notarization
- Not required
- The state's own form
- VS-130, Application for Notice of Intent to Claim Paternity (1/22)
- Fee
- No fee
- Where it goes
By mail
DSHS-VSS Paternity Registry MC 1966P.O. Box 149347Austin, TX 78714-9347Certified mail with a return receipt is not required, but it gives the sender a dated record that the envelope arrived.
- What the form itself requires
- The form is signed under penalty of perjury. It needs no notary, but an unsigned form is not accepted.
- His name, date of birth and address are required.
- He must promptly notify the registry in writing of any change in his information, including a change of address.
The statute gives a number of days, but an event a father cannot see can end the window sooner. The number is the latest possible date, not a safe one.
Who gets notice of an adoption
A man who timely registered; a man whose father-child relationship is already established under the Family Code or another law; or a man who starts a proceeding to adjudicate his paternity before the court has terminated his parental rights. Even a timely registrant can lose his rights without notice if attempts to serve him personally at the address he gave the registry fail, so the address on file must stay current.
What filing does, under this state's law
- Another party can use the filing as evidence in court.
- The state itself sends the mother a copy.
- Filing bears on an adoption only. It does not stop another man from signing an acknowledgment of paternity.
The state's own page
Sources
This page states what the law and the state agency say. It is not legal advice about any particular situation and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. See which states could decide a case.