H.B. No. 72
AN ACT
relating to the waiting period for issuing a decree in certain suits
for divorce.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 6.702, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the [The] court
may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after the date the suit
was filed. A decree rendered in violation of this subsection is not
subject to collateral attack.
(c) A waiting period is not required under Subsection (a)
before a court may grant a divorce in a suit in which the court finds
that:
(1) the respondent has been finally convicted of or
received deferred adjudication for an offense involving family
violence as defined by Section 71.004 against the petitioner or a
member of the petitioner's household; or
(2) the petitioner has an active protective order
under Title 4 or an active magistrate's order for emergency
protection under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, based
on a finding of family violence, against the respondent because of
family violence committed during the marriage.
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 72 was passed by the House on April
22, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 72 on May 23, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 72 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 72 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 19, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
72 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor