81R1178 JSC-D
By: Estes S.B. No. 2352
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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. CRISIS 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:
(1) a child under the age of 18;
(2) a child 18 years of age who is attending high
school; or
(3) an adult disabled child as described by Section
154.302.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a petition in a
suit for dissolution of a marriage must be accompanied by a
completion certificate for a crisis marriage education course under
Section 6.412 completed by the petitioner not more than one year
before the date the petition is filed.
(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 crisis marriage education course under Section 6.412 completed by
the respondent not more than one year 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 crisis
marriage education course to be submitted with the petition; or
(2) consider the completion of the crisis 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. CRISIS MARRIAGE EDUCATION COURSES. (a) Each
party to a suit for dissolution of a marriage is encouraged to
attend a crisis marriage education course of at least 10 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 crisis marriage education course must, at a minimum,
include instruction in:
(1) conflict management;
(2) communication skills; and
(3) forgiveness skills.
(c) A course under this section should be offered by
instructors trained and certified in a skills-based and
research-based marriage curriculum. The following individuals and
organizations may provide courses:
(1) marriage educators;
(2) clergy or their designees;
(3) licensed mental health professionals;
(4) faith-based organizations; and
(5) community-based organizations.
(d) A person who takes a course under this section shall pay
any fee charged for the course.
(e) 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.
(f) The Health and Human Services Commission shall maintain
an Internet website on which individuals and organizations
described by Subsection (c) may electronically register with the
commission to indicate the skills-based and research-based
curriculum in which the registrant is certified. 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 crisis marriage
education course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not
more than one year 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; [and]
(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 crisis marriage education course under
Section 6.412 completed by the spouse not more than one year 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 CRISIS
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 crisis marriage
education course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not
more than one year 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;
[and]
(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 crisis marriage education
course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not more than one
year 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 September 1, 2010.