81R1006 JSC-D
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 24
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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:
(1) the respondent has been finally convicted of an
offense an element of which included the respondent assaulting or
threatening the petitioner; or
(2) there is evidence sufficient for the court to find
that the respondent committed family violence during the marriage,
including evidence that:
(A) a temporary order has been issued against the
respondent under Subchapter F; or
(B) the petitioner has obtained a protective
order under Title 4 against the respondent because of family
violence.
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.