By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1159
(In the Senate - Filed March 4, 2011; March 16, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
April 18, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 18, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1159 By: Harris
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exception to the residency requirements for filing a
suit for dissolution of a marriage in this state for certain spouses
of military personnel.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 6.303 and 6.304, Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 6.303. ABSENCE ON PUBLIC SERVICE. Time spent by a
Texas domiciliary outside this state or outside the county of
residence of the domiciliary while in the service of the armed
forces or other service of the United States or of this state, or
while accompanying the domiciliary's spouse in the spouse's service
of the armed forces or other service of the United States or of this
state, is considered residence in this state and in that county.
Sec. 6.304. ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL NOT PREVIOUSLY
RESIDENTS. A person not previously a resident of this state who is
serving in the armed forces of the United States and has been
stationed at one or more military installations in this state for at
least the last six months and at a military installation in a county
of this state for at least the last 90 days, or who is accompanying
the person's spouse during the spouse's military service in those
locations and for those periods, is considered to be a Texas
domiciliary and a resident of that county for those periods for the
purpose of filing suit for dissolution of a 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 filed before that date 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, 2011.
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