Bill Text: TX HB2855 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to marriage education courses for certain couples filing for divorce on the grounds of insupportability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-17 - Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence [HB2855 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB2855-Introduced.html
82R10495 JSC-D | ||
By: Howard of Fort Bend | H.B. No. 2855 |
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relating to marriage education courses for certain couples filing | ||
for divorce on the grounds of insupportability. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 6, Family Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 6.4025 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 6.4025. MARRIAGE EDUCATION REQUIRED IN CERTAIN SUITS. | ||
(a) This section applies to a suit for dissolution of marriage | ||
filed on the grounds of insupportability and in which the household | ||
of one of the parties is the primary residence for a child under the | ||
age of 18. | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a petition in a | ||
suit for dissolution of a marriage must be accompanied by: | ||
(1) a completion certificate for a marriage education | ||
course under Section 6.412 completed by the petitioner not less | ||
than one year but not more than two years before the date the | ||
petition is filed; and | ||
(2) a statement that after completing the marriage | ||
education course, but not less than one year before filing the | ||
petition, the petitioner gave the respondent written notice of: | ||
(A) the intent to file for dissolution; and | ||
(B) the availability of the marriage education | ||
course, if the respondent has not completed a marriage education | ||
course. | ||
(c) Not later than the 14th day after the date the | ||
respondent receives notice of the suit for dissolution of marriage, | ||
the respondent may file with the court a completion certificate for | ||
a marriage education course under Section 6.412 completed by the | ||
respondent not more than two years before the date the petition is | ||
filed. | ||
(d) If a party submits evidence under Subsection (e), the | ||
court may not: | ||
(1) require a completion certificate for a marriage | ||
education course to be submitted with the petition; or | ||
(2) consider the completion of the marriage education | ||
course as a factor in rendering an order affecting the rights or | ||
responsibilities of the parties. | ||
(e) Either party may submit to the court evidence that the | ||
other party to the suit has committed family violence against the | ||
party or mentally, emotionally, verbally, or psychologically | ||
abused the party, including: | ||
(1) a copy of a protective order issued under Title 4 | ||
against the other party because of family violence; | ||
(2) a police record documenting family violence by the | ||
other party against the party submitting the evidence; | ||
(3) a statement by a physician or other medical | ||
evidence that indicates that the party submitting the evidence was | ||
a victim of family violence; or | ||
(4) a sworn statement by a counselor or advocate in a | ||
family violence program that indicates that the party submitting | ||
the evidence was a victim of family violence or mental, emotional, | ||
verbal, or psychological abuse. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 6, Family Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 6.412 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 6.412. MARRIAGE EDUCATION COURSES. (a) Each party to | ||
a suit for dissolution of a marriage is encouraged to attend a | ||
marriage education course of at least four hours, completed within | ||
a 30-day period. The goal of the course, and the focus of each | ||
component of the course, is marriage restoration. | ||
(b) A marriage education course must, at a minimum, include | ||
instruction in: | ||
(1) the potential effects of divorce on a child, | ||
including: | ||
(A) the possible effects of divorce on | ||
depression, suicidal thoughts, and increased suicide attempts; | ||
(B) responses to divorce that may include | ||
dropping out of school or the use of drugs or alcohol; and | ||
(C) other symptoms of maladjustment to divorce; | ||
(2) the potential effects of divorce on the parties to | ||
the divorce, including: | ||
(A) the financial consequences of divorce; | ||
(B) the rates of divorce in second and third | ||
marriages; | ||
(C) the effect of divorce on a parent's | ||
relationship with the parent's child; and | ||
(D) time spent with a child by a possessory | ||
conservator after a divorce; | ||
(3) skills building, including: | ||
(A) parenting skills; | ||
(B) communication skills; | ||
(C) conflict resolution skills; | ||
(D) money management skills; and | ||
(E) overcoming infidelity; and | ||
(4) relevant information and referral services for: | ||
(A) domestic violence; and | ||
(B) substance abuse. | ||
(c) The Health and Human Services Commission, in | ||
consultation with domestic violence organizations and experts, | ||
shall certify the curriculum of a course. | ||
(d) The Health and Human Services Commission may approve an | ||
online course for use in counties in which no marriage education | ||
course is regularly offered. | ||
(e) The Health and Human Services Commission shall approve | ||
individuals and organizations, including community and faith-based | ||
organizations, that are certified in a skills-based and | ||
research-based marriage curriculum to provide courses under this | ||
section. | ||
(f) A person who takes a course under this section shall pay | ||
any fee charged for the course. | ||
(g) The Health and Human Services Commission may subsidize a | ||
marriage education course approved under this section if funding is | ||
available. The Health and Human Services Commission may apply for, | ||
accept, and use any applicable federal grants. | ||
(h) If a provider of a marriage education course receives a | ||
subsidy under Subsection (g), the provider must adopt a procedure | ||
for waiving or reducing the marriage education course fee for a | ||
person who is indigent. | ||
(i) A person who provides a marriage education course shall | ||
provide a signed and dated completion certificate to each person | ||
who completes the course. The certificate must include the name of | ||
the course, the name of the course provider, and the completion | ||
date. | ||
(j) The Health and Human Services Commission shall maintain | ||
an Internet website that lists the courses certified or approved | ||
under Subsections (c) and (d). The executive commissioner shall | ||
notify each county clerk and district clerk about the website. The | ||
clerk of the court in which a petition for dissolution of a marriage | ||
based on insupportability is filed shall give the person filing the | ||
petition information about the website along with the location of | ||
libraries or other resource centers that provide access to the | ||
Internet. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 7.002, Family Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsection (d) to read as follows: | ||
(d) In ordering a division of the estate of parties subject | ||
to Section 6.4025, the court shall consider whether a party has | ||
filed with the court a completion certificate for a marriage | ||
education course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not | ||
more than two years before the date the petition for dissolution of | ||
marriage is filed. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 8.052, Family Code, is amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 8.052. FACTORS IN DETERMINING MAINTENANCE. A court | ||
that determines that a spouse is eligible to receive maintenance | ||
under this chapter shall determine the nature, amount, duration, | ||
and manner of periodic payments by considering all relevant | ||
factors, including: | ||
(1) the financial resources of the spouse seeking | ||
maintenance, including the community and separate property and | ||
liabilities apportioned to that spouse in the dissolution | ||
proceeding, and that spouse's ability to meet the spouse's needs | ||
independently; | ||
(2) the education and employment skills of the | ||
spouses, the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or | ||
training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to find | ||
appropriate employment, the availability of that education or | ||
training, and the feasibility of that education or training; | ||
(3) the duration of the marriage; | ||
(4) the age, employment history, earning ability, and | ||
physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance; | ||
(5) the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is | ||
requested to meet that spouse's personal needs and to provide | ||
periodic child support payments, if applicable, while meeting the | ||
personal needs of the spouse seeking maintenance; | ||
(6) acts by either spouse resulting in excessive or | ||
abnormal expenditures or destruction, concealment, or fraudulent | ||
disposition of community property, joint tenancy, or other property | ||
held in common; | ||
(7) the comparative financial resources of the | ||
spouses, including medical, retirement, insurance, or other | ||
benefits, and the separate property of each spouse; | ||
(8) the contribution by one spouse to the education, | ||
training, or increased earning power of the other spouse; | ||
(9) the property brought to the marriage by either | ||
spouse; | ||
(10) the contribution of a spouse as homemaker; | ||
(11) marital misconduct of the spouse seeking | ||
maintenance; [ |
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(12) the efforts of the spouse seeking maintenance to | ||
pursue available employment counseling as provided by Chapter 304, | ||
Labor Code; and | ||
(13) if the suit for dissolution was subject to | ||
Section 6.4025, whether either spouse has filed with the court a | ||
completion certificate for a marriage education course under | ||
Section 6.412 completed by the spouse not more than two years before | ||
the date the petition for dissolution of marriage is filed. | ||
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 153, Family Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 153.0035 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 153.0035. CONSIDERATION OF COMPLETION OF MARRIAGE | ||
EDUCATION COURSE. In determining whether to appoint a party as a | ||
sole or joint managing conservator, the court shall consider | ||
whether a party in a suit subject to Section 6.4025 has filed with | ||
the court a completion certificate for a marriage education course | ||
under Section 6.412 completed by the party not more than two years | ||
before the date the petition for dissolution of marriage is filed. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 154.123(b), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) In determining whether application of the guidelines | ||
would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances, the court | ||
shall consider evidence of all relevant factors, including: | ||
(1) the age and needs of the child; | ||
(2) the ability of the parents to contribute to the | ||
support of the child; | ||
(3) any financial resources available for the support | ||
of the child; | ||
(4) the amount of time of possession of and access to a | ||
child; | ||
(5) the amount of the obligee's net resources, | ||
including the earning potential of the obligee if the actual income | ||
of the obligee is significantly less than what the obligee could | ||
earn because the obligee is intentionally unemployed or | ||
underemployed and including an increase or decrease in the income | ||
of the obligee or income that may be attributed to the property and | ||
assets of the obligee; | ||
(6) child care expenses incurred by either party in | ||
order to maintain gainful employment; | ||
(7) whether either party has the managing | ||
conservatorship or actual physical custody of another child; | ||
(8) the amount of alimony or spousal maintenance | ||
actually and currently being paid or received by a party; | ||
(9) the expenses for a son or daughter for education | ||
beyond secondary school; | ||
(10) whether the obligor or obligee has an automobile, | ||
housing, or other benefits furnished by his or her employer, | ||
another person, or a business entity; | ||
(11) the amount of other deductions from the wage or | ||
salary income and from other compensation for personal services of | ||
the parties; | ||
(12) provision for health care insurance and payment | ||
of uninsured medical expenses; | ||
(13) special or extraordinary educational, health | ||
care, or other expenses of the parties or of the child; | ||
(14) the cost of travel in order to exercise | ||
possession of and access to a child; | ||
(15) positive or negative cash flow from any real and | ||
personal property and assets, including a business and investments; | ||
(16) debts or debt service assumed by either party; | ||
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(17) if the obligee and obligor were parties in a suit | ||
subject to Section 6.4025, whether either party has filed with the | ||
court a completion certificate for a marriage education course | ||
under Section 6.412 completed by the party not more than two years | ||
before the date the petition for dissolution of marriage is filed; | ||
and | ||
(18) any other reason consistent with the best | ||
interest of the child, taking into consideration the circumstances | ||
of the parents. | ||
SECTION 7. The change in law made by this Act applies only | ||
to a suit for dissolution of a marriage filed on or after the | ||
effective date of this Act. A suit for dissolution of a marriage | ||
filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law | ||
in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect January 1, 2012. |