If you’re finalizing a divorce, annulment, or suit affecting the parent-child relationship in Harris County, the Harris County BVS Form VS-165 is the one-page, double-sided report you hand to the district clerk when the judge signs your decree. Its full title is “Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship (Excluding Adoptions),” and the Texas Department of State Health Services uses it to update the state’s vital statistics records. The attorney presenting the final judgment fills it out. If you’re representing yourself, that job is yours.
Where to Get the Form
Download the VS-165 PDF from the Harris County District Clerk’s website under the “Family Forms” section of the downloadable forms page.1Harris County District Clerk. Downloadable Forms It’s also available on Texas Law Help, and you can pick up a paper copy at the Harris County courthouse.
One printing detail trips people up constantly: the form must be printed double-sided on a single sheet of paper, not as two separate pages.2Harris County District Clerk. Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship Print it on two sheets and the clerk’s office will send you back to the printer.
Which Cases Require It
Every divorce, annulment, and SAPCR finalized in a Harris County district court triggers the VS-165 requirement. SAPCR cases include paternity establishments, conservatorship changes, and termination-of-parental-rights proceedings. The legal basis sits in Texas Health and Safety Code Section 194.002 and Texas Family Code Sections 108.001 through 108.004.2Harris County District Clerk. Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship
Adoptions are excluded. The title says so, and if your case is an adoption you’ll need a different reporting form from the Vital Statistics Unit.
How to Fill Out the Form
The VS-165 has three main sections plus an attorney or pro se filer block. Every field is treated as required. Blanks are the fastest way to get the form rejected.
Section 1: General Information
This section identifies the case. Enter the county (Harris), the court number of the family district court hearing your case, and the cause number assigned to your lawsuit.3Texas Department of State Health Services. Harris County BVS Form VS-165 Indicate the type of action — divorce, annulment, or SAPCR — and the date the final order was signed. These identifiers let the Vital Statistics Unit match your report to the correct court record.
Section 2: Petitioner and Respondent Information
For both the petitioner and the respondent, the form asks for:
- Full legal name: first, middle, last, and suffix.
- Maiden last name, meaning the name before first marriage, if applicable.
- Place of birth: city and state, or foreign country.
- Race.
- Date of birth.
- Usual residence: full street address, city, state, and ZIP code.
The form does not ask for Social Security numbers.4Texas Law Help. Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship (Excluding Adoptions) That surprises people, because so many other court documents do. What it asks for instead — maiden name, birthplace, race — is what the state uses to cross-reference and update marriage and birth records. Check that the name and residence here match what appears in your final decree.
Section 3: Children Affected by the Suit
If children are involved, report each child’s current legal name, date of birth, sex, and birthplace (city, county, and state). If a child’s name is being changed in the proceedings, provide the prior name as well. The form has space for up to six children. If your case involves more than six, complete Section 3 on an additional copy of the form.3Texas Department of State Health Services. Harris County BVS Form VS-165
Attorney or Pro Se Filer Block
If an attorney is handling the case, fill in the attorney’s name, telephone number, and mailing address.4Texas Law Help. Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship (Excluding Adoptions) There is no state bar number field. If you’re representing yourself, put your own contact information here. The state uses it to reach you if the form needs correction.
How to Submit the Form
Under Texas law, the attorney presenting a final divorce or annulment judgment to the court must complete the VS-165 and submit it to the district clerk at the same time the judge signs the final decree.5State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 194-002 – Report of Divorce or Annulment In practice, most people hand the completed form to the court coordinator or the clerk’s staff at the hearing itself. Judges often won’t sign the final order until they see the completed VS-165 in the stack, because the statute treats this report as part of closing the case.
Harris County mandates electronic filing for civil courts, but pro se filers are exempt and may still submit paper documents.6Harris County District Clerk. Office of Harris County District Clerk – Marilyn Burgess – EFile FAQ Attorneys who e-file the final decree through eFileTexas.gov should confirm with the clerk’s office how to include the VS-165, since the double-sided printing requirement doesn’t translate neatly to a digital upload.
What Happens After You Submit
Once the clerk has your VS-165, the statute sets a specific deadline: the completed report must be filed with the state Vital Statistics Unit no later than the ninth day of the following month.5State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 194-002 – Report of Divorce or Annulment If your divorce is finalized on March 20, the clerk must transmit the report to Austin by April 9. If the form is missing the date the divorce was granted or the court information, the clerk is required to fill those in before sending it.
If the State Finds an Error
If the Vital Statistics Unit finds a problem with your form, the department mails it directly to the attorney of record for correction. The attorney fixes it and returns it. When there’s no attorney on file because the case was pro se, the department sends the form to the district clerk instead.5State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 194-002 – Report of Divorce or Annulment Accurate contact information in the attorney or pro se block matters for this reason. If the state can’t reach you, a correction that should take a week can stretch into months while your official records sit out of date.
Penalties for False Information
Deliberately providing false information on the VS-165 is a third-degree felony under Texas Health and Safety Code Section 195.003, which covers intentionally making a false statement on a vital statistics report or supplying false information knowing it will be used to prepare one.7State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 195-003 – False Records A third-degree felony in Texas carries two to ten years in prison. The same penalty applies to counterfeiting, altering, or mutilating the form. Honest mistakes get fixed through the correction process. Fabricated information — a false birthplace, an invented maiden name, a misidentified child — does not.