2022 Texas Statutes
Family Code
Title 3 - Juvenile Justice Code
Chapter 61 - Rights and Responsibilities of Parents and Other Eligible Persons
Subchapter B. Enforcement of Order Against Parent or Other Eligible Person
Section 61.056. Affirmative Defense of Inability to Pay
Sec. 61.056. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE OF INABILITY TO PAY. (a) In an enforcement hearing in which the motion for enforcement alleges that the person against whom enforcement is sought failed to pay restitution, court costs, supervision fees, or any other payment ordered by the court, it is an affirmative defense that the person was financially unable to pay.
(b) The burden of proof to establish the affirmative defense of inability to pay is on the person asserting it.
(c) In order to prevail on the affirmative defense of inability to pay, the person asserting it must show that the person could not have reasonably paid the court-ordered obligation after the person discharged the person's other important financial obligations, including payments for housing, food, utilities, necessary clothing, education, and preexisting debts.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 283, Sec. 28, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
