Call Now
713-521-0059
Almost certainly not, if what it silences is the abuse itself. Chapter 129C of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, effective 1 September 2025, makes any nondisclosure or confidentiality provision void and unenforceable as against the public policy of this state to the extent it prohibits a person from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to one. It applies to agreements entered into before, on or after that date.
Two features of this statute are consistently reported wrong, and both matter to someone deciding whether they can speak.
It is not limited to children. The definition of an act of sexual abuse includes sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of an adult, not only offenses against a child.
It does not void the whole agreement. The money can still be confidential. What cannot be silenced is the abuse.
Section 129C.002 provides that any provision of a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement, or any nondisclosure or confidentiality provision of an employment agreement, settlement agreement or any other agreement, is void and unenforceable as against the public policy of this state to the extent the provision prohibits a person, including a party, from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to an act of sexual abuse to any other person.
The same section then says what is preserved. Nothing in it may be construed to prohibit a person from agreeing to keep confidential any other provision of a settlement agreement, including the amount or payment terms of a settlement.
So the line is between the fact of the abuse and the terms of the deal. You may still be bound as to the number. You are not bound as to what happened to you.
Section 129C.001 defines the term by reference to conduct described in Section 261.001(1)(E), (F), (G), (H), (K) or (L) of the Family Code, or one or more of these penal laws:
Sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault appear on that list without any age limitation. An adult survivor who signed an NDA after an assault is within this statute.
Chapter 129C itself is silent on agreements signed before the effective date. The applicability provisions are in the session law rather than the code, at Section 3 of Senate Bill 835, 89th Legislature, Regular Session.
Section 3(a) provides that the change in law applies to an agreement entered into before, on or after the effective date of the Act.
Section 3(b) does something more unusual. A person may not enforce or attempt to enforce a pre-effective-date agreement or provision described by Section 129C.002 unless that person first obtains a declaratory judgment under Chapter 37 that is final and not subject to appeal and declares the agreement or provision enforceable.
Read what that does. The burden of going to court sits on the party trying to enforce the silence, not on the survivor. Someone holding a 2015 NDA cannot simply send a demand letter and threaten suit. To enforce it they must obtain a final, unappealable declaratory judgment first.
That is a meaningful practical protection, and it is the part of this law almost nobody explains.
It does not make the money public. The amount and payment terms can still be confidential by agreement, and usually will be.
It does not eliminate other risks of speaking. A survivor who names a person publicly can be sued for defamation, whatever this statute says about the NDA. Truth is a defense, but a defense is something you assert after being sued.
It does not undo a release. If a settlement released legal claims, those claims remain released. Chapter 129C addresses the silence provision, not the release of liability.
It does not answer every question about a federal case or a non-Texas agreement. Choice of law and the reach of a Texas public policy statute over an agreement governed by another state’s law are real questions and they are fact-specific.
Two federal statutes sit alongside this one for people whose agreement arose from work. The Speak Out Act, 42 U.S.C. Sections 19401 to 19404, addresses pre-dispute nondisclosure and non-disparagement clauses covering sexual assault and sexual harassment disputes, and the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, 9 U.S.C. Sections 401 and 402, allows a person to elect not to be bound by a pre-dispute arbitration agreement in those disputes. Both are federal, both are narrower than they are usually described, and neither is a substitute for reading the agreement in front of you.
Have someone read the actual agreement. The question is never whether NDAs are enforceable in general. It is what this document says, when it was signed, what law governs it, and which of its clauses Chapter 129C reaches.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Do not destroy the agreement. Whatever it says, the document itself is evidence, including of who wanted the silence and what they knew when they bought it.
A demand letter is not a court order. If someone sends a letter threatening to enforce a pre-2025 NDA, Section 3(b) of the Act says they must first obtain a final declaratory judgment. That is a very different posture from the one the letter is designed to create.
Get advice before speaking publicly, not after. Chapter 129C removes one risk. It does not remove all of them, and the sequence matters.
The first conversation is free, it is confidential, and it does not commit you to anything.
If you signed something after an assault and have felt unable to speak since, bring us the document. We will tell you what Chapter 129C does to it, what it leaves in place, and what the risks of speaking actually are, in plain terms.
That conversation is protected whether or not you ever hire anyone.
If you are an advocate or a counselor asking on someone’s behalf, you are welcome to call with a general question.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
Not to the extent it prohibits you from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to one. Section 129C.002, effective 1 September 2025, makes such a provision void and unenforceable as against the public policy of Texas.
Yes. Section 3(a) of Senate Bill 835 applies the change in law to agreements entered into before, on or after the effective date. Section 3(b) also provides that no one may enforce or attempt to enforce such a pre-effective-date provision without first obtaining a final, unappealable declaratory judgment that it is enforceable.
No. The definition in Section 129C.001 includes sexual assault under Penal Code Section 22.011 and aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, neither of which is limited to children.
Not necessarily. Section 129C.002 expressly preserves an agreement to keep confidential any other provision of a settlement, including the amount and payment terms. The abuse is what cannot be silenced.
Chapter 129C addresses the NDA. It does not eliminate the risk of a defamation suit for naming someone publicly. Truth is a defense, but a defense is asserted after being sued, so get advice before speaking rather than after.
No. If you released legal claims, they remain released. The statute addresses the confidentiality provision, not the release of liability.
