By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 24
(In the Senate - Filed November 10, 2008; February 10, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
April 20, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 20, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 24 By: Wentworth
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 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 obtained a protective order
under Title 4 or a magistrate's order for emergency protection
under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, 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.
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