Tex. Codes » Family Code · TITLE 5. THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP AND THE SUIT AFFECTING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP · SUBTITLE B. SUITS AFFECTING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP · CHAPTER 157. ENFORCEMENT
Texas Codes

Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316 (2026)

Perfection Of Child Support Lien

✓ current as of May 2026
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Sec. 157.316. PERFECTION OF CHILD SUPPORT LIEN. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a child support lien is perfected when an abstract of judgment for past due child support or a child support lien notice is filed or delivered as provided by Section 157.314.

(b) If a lien established under this subchapter attaches to a motor vehicle, the lien must be perfected in the manner provided by Chapter 501, Transportation Code, and the court or Title IV-D agency that rendered the order of child support shall include in the order a requirement that the obligor surrender to the court or Title IV-D agency evidence of the legal ownership of the motor vehicle against which the lien may attach. A lien against a motor vehicle under this subchapter is not perfected until the obligor's title to the vehicle has been surrendered to the court or Title IV-D agency and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has issued a subsequent title that discloses on its face the fact that the vehicle is subject to a child support lien under this subchapter.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 420, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 23, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1023, Sec. 24, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 933 (H.B. 3097), Sec. 3C.01, eff. September 1, 2009.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2009–2021 · leading case: Herzfeld v. Herzfeld, 285 S.W.3d 122 (Tex. App. 2009).
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Herzfeld v. Herzfeld, 285 S.W.3d 122 (Tex. App. 2009). “” Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 157.316(a) (Vernon 2008) (entitled “Perfection of Child Support Lien”).”
Mem'l Hermann Hosp. Sys. v. Progressive Cnty. Mut. Ins. Co., 355 S.W.3d 123 (Tex. App. 2011). “Further, the statutes consistently instruct the clerk to record liens according to the date and time of the filing or receipt, not by the date of indexing or recording. See Tex. Bus. & Com.”
United States v. 10.64 ACRES OF LAND, more or less, situate in STARR Cnty., STATE OF TEXAS (S.D. Tex. 2021). “§ 666 (a)(4); see Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a) (“. . . a child support lien is perfected when an abstract of judgment for past due child support or a child support lien notice is filed or delivered as provided by Section 157.”
Barbara Gail Harris v. Hayden R. Mayfield, Indep. of the Est. of Hayden R. Mayfield, & Tr. Under the Will of Hayden R. Mayfield (Tex. App. 2014). “Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a). In the Matter of the Marriage of Williams, 998 S.”
Barbara Gail Harris v. Hayden R. Mayfield, Indep. of the Est. of Hayden R. Mayfield, & Tr. Under the Will of Hayden R. Mayfield (Tex. App. 2014). “Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a). In the Matter of the Marriage of Williams, 998 S.”
Barbara Gail Harris v. Hayden R. Mayfield, Indep. of the Est. of Hayden R. Mayfield, & Tr. Under the Will of Hayden R. Mayfield (Tex. App. 2015). “Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a). In the Matter of the Marriage of Williams, 998 S.”
— Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a) — 5 cases
Herzfeld v. Herzfeld, 285 S.W.3d 122 (Tex. App. 2009). “” Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 157.316(a) (Vernon 2008) (entitled “Perfection of Child Support Lien”).”
United States v. 10.64 ACRES OF LAND, more or less, situate in STARR Cnty., STATE OF TEXAS (S.D. Tex. 2021). “§ 666 (a)(4); see Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a) (“. . . a child support lien is perfected when an abstract of judgment for past due child support or a child support lien notice is filed or delivered as provided by Section 157.”
Barbara Gail Harris v. Hayden R. Mayfield, Indep. of the Est. of Hayden R. Mayfield, & Tr. Under the Will of Hayden R. Mayfield (Tex. App. 2014). “Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a). In the Matter of the Marriage of Williams, 998 S.”
Barbara Gail Harris v. Hayden R. Mayfield, Indep. of the Est. of Hayden R. Mayfield, & Tr. Under the Will of Hayden R. Mayfield (Tex. App. 2014). “Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a). In the Matter of the Marriage of Williams, 998 S.”
Barbara Gail Harris v. Hayden R. Mayfield, Indep. of the Est. of Hayden R. Mayfield, & Tr. Under the Will of Hayden R. Mayfield (Tex. App. 2015). “Tex. Fam. Code § 157.316(a). In the Matter of the Marriage of Williams, 998 S.”
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