In the Interest of A.M.

In this case, we must decide under what circumstances a parent, who has been ordered to pay periodic child support, may raise the affirmative defense of Texas Family Code section 157.008 to a suit to collect that support. The statute provides that an obligor parent, who by agreement has possessed a child for periods exceeding court-ordered possession, and who has provided actual support for the child during such period, “may request reimbursement for that support as a counterclaim or offset against the claim of the obligee [parent].” TEX. FAM. CODE § 157.008(d). The court of appeals concluded…