Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB157 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R17 KSD-D
2	2	By: Hinojosa, Rodríguez S.B. No. 157
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to certain statutory changes to reflect same-sex
8	8	marriages, including the repeal of the statutory prohibition
9	9	against the recognition of a civil union or similar relationship
10	10	entered into in another state between two persons of the same sex.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 2.001(a), Family Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	(a) Two individuals [A man and a woman] desiring to enter
15	15	into a ceremonial marriage must obtain a marriage license from the
16	16	county clerk of any county of this state.
17	17	SECTION 2. Section 2.004(b), Family Code, is amended to
18	18	read as follows:
19	19	(b) The application form must contain:
20	20	(1) a heading entitled "Application for Marriage
21	21	License, ____________ County, Texas";
22	22	(2) spaces for each applicant's full name, including
23	23	the [woman's maiden] surname of an applicant intending to change
24	24	the applicant's surname as a result of the marriage, address,
25	25	social security number, if any, date of birth, and place of birth,
26	26	including city, county, and state;
27	27	(3) a space for indicating the document tendered by
28	28	each applicant as proof of identity and age;
29	29	(4) spaces for indicating whether each applicant has
30	30	been divorced within the last 30 days;
31	31	(5) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
32	32	or "false" in response to the following statement: "I am not
33	33	presently married and the other applicant is not presently
34	34	married.";
35	35	(6) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
36	36	or "false" in response to the following statement: "The other
37	37	applicant is not related to me as:
38	38	(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
39	39	adoption;
40	40	(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
41	41	blood or by adoption;
42	42	(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or
43	43	half blood or by adoption;
44	44	(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
45	45	the whole or half blood or by adoption;
46	46	(E) a current or former stepchild or stepparent;
47	47	or
48	48	(F) a son or daughter of a parent's brother or
49	49	sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption.";
50	50	(7) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
51	51	or "false" in response to the following statement: "I am not
52	52	presently delinquent in the payment of court-ordered child
53	53	support.";
54	54	(8) a printed oath reading: "I SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR
55	55	AFFIRM) THAT THE INFORMATION I HAVE GIVEN IN THIS APPLICATION IS
56	56	CORRECT.";
57	57	(9) spaces immediately below the printed oath for the
58	58	applicants' signatures;
59	59	(10) a certificate of the county clerk that:
60	60	(A) each applicant made the oath and the date and
61	61	place that it was made; or
62	62	(B) an applicant did not appear personally but
63	63	the prerequisites for the license have been fulfilled as provided
64	64	by this chapter;
65	65	(11) spaces for indicating the date of the marriage
66	66	and the county in which the marriage is performed;
67	67	(12) a space for the address to which the applicants
68	68	desire the completed license to be mailed; and
69	69	(13) a printed box for each applicant to check
70	70	indicating that the applicant wishes to make a voluntary
71	71	contribution of $5 to promote healthy early childhood by supporting
72	72	the Texas Home Visiting Program administered by the Office of Early
73	73	Childhood Coordination of the Health and Human Services Commission.
74	74	SECTION 3. Section 2.401(a), Family Code, is amended to
75	75	read as follows:
76	76	(a) In a judicial, administrative, or other proceeding, the
77	77	marriage of two individuals [a man and woman] may be proved by
78	78	evidence that:
79	79	(1) a declaration of their marriage has been signed as
80	80	provided by this subchapter; or
81	81	(2) the individuals [man and woman] agreed to be
82	82	married and after the agreement they lived together in this state as
83	83	spouses [husband and wife] and there represented to others that
84	84	they were married.
85	85	SECTION 4. Section 2.402(b), Family Code, is amended to
86	86	read as follows:
87	87	(b) The declaration form must contain:
88	88	(1) a heading entitled "Declaration and Registration
89	89	of Informal Marriage, ___________ County, Texas";
90	90	(2) spaces for each party's full name, including the
91	91	[woman's maiden] surname of a party intending to change the party's
92	92	surname as a result of the marriage, address, date of birth, place
93	93	of birth, including city, county, and state, and social security
94	94	number, if any;
95	95	(3) a space for indicating the type of document
96	96	tendered by each party as proof of age and identity;
97	97	(4) printed boxes for each party to check "true" or
98	98	"false" in response to the following statement: "The other party
99	99	is not related to me as:
100	100	(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
101	101	adoption;
102	102	(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
103	103	blood or by adoption;
104	104	(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or
105	105	half blood or by adoption;
106	106	(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
107	107	the whole or half blood or by adoption;
108	108	(E) a current or former stepchild or stepparent;
109	109	or
110	110	(F) a son or daughter of a parent's brother or
111	111	sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption.";
112	112	(5) a printed declaration and oath reading: "I
113	113	SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR AFFIRM) THAT WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, ARE MARRIED TO
114	114	EACH OTHER BY VIRTUE OF THE FOLLOWING FACTS: ON OR ABOUT (DATE) WE
115	115	AGREED TO BE MARRIED, AND AFTER THAT DATE WE LIVED TOGETHER AS
116	116	SPOUSES [HUSBAND AND WIFE] AND IN THIS STATE WE REPRESENTED TO
117	117	OTHERS THAT WE WERE MARRIED. SINCE THE DATE OF MARRIAGE TO THE
118	118	OTHER PARTY I HAVE NOT BEEN MARRIED TO ANY OTHER PERSON. THIS
119	119	DECLARATION IS TRUE AND THE INFORMATION IN IT WHICH I HAVE GIVEN IS
120	120	CORRECT.";
121	121	(6) spaces immediately below the printed declaration
122	122	and oath for the parties' signatures; and
123	123	(7) a certificate of the county clerk that the parties
124	124	made the declaration and oath and the place and date it was made.
125	125	SECTION 5. Sections 3.401(4) and (5), Family Code, are
126	126	amended to read as follows:
127	127	(4) "Marital estate" means one of three estates:
128	128	(A) the community property owned by the spouses
129	129	together and referred to as the community marital estate;
130	130	(B) the separate property owned individually by
131	131	one spouse [the husband] and referred to as a separate marital
132	132	estate; or
133	133	(C) the separate property owned individually by
134	134	the other spouse [wife], also referred to as a separate marital
135	135	estate.
136	136	(5) "Spouse" means a party to a marriage [husband, who
137	137	is a man, or a wife, who is a woman. A member of a civil union or
138	138	similar relationship entered into in another state between persons
139	139	of the same sex is not a spouse].
140	140	SECTION 6. Section 6.104(b), Family Code, is amended to
141	141	read as follows:
142	142	(b) In exercising its discretion, the court shall consider
143	143	the pertinent facts concerning the welfare of the parties to the
144	144	marriage, including whether a spouse [the female] is pregnant.
145	145	SECTION 7. Section 6.202(b), Family Code, is amended to
146	146	read as follows:
147	147	(b) The later marriage that is void under this section
148	148	becomes valid when the prior marriage is dissolved if, after the
149	149	date of the dissolution, the parties have lived together as spouses
150	150	[husband and wife] and represented themselves to others as being
151	151	married.
152	152	SECTION 8. Section 6.203, Family Code, is amended to read as
153	153	follows:
154	154	Sec. 6.203. CERTAIN VOID MARRIAGES VALIDATED. Except for a
155	155	marriage that would have been void under Section 6.201, a marriage
156	156	that was entered into before January 1, 1970, in violation of the
157	157	prohibitions of Article 496, Penal Code of Texas, 1925, is
158	158	validated from the date the marriage commenced if the parties
159	159	continued until January 1, 1970, to live together as spouses
160	160	[husband and wife] and to represent themselves to others as being
161	161	married.
162	162	SECTION 9. Section 6.704, Family Code, is amended to read as
163	163	follows:
164	164	Sec. 6.704. TESTIMONY OF SPOUSE [HUSBAND OR WIFE]. (a) In
165	165	a suit for dissolution of a marriage, each spouse is a [the husband
166	166	and wife are] competent witness [witnesses] for and against the
167	167	[each] other spouse. A spouse may not be compelled to testify as to
168	168	a matter that will incriminate the spouse.
169	169	(b) If a spouse [the husband or wife] testifies, the court
170	170	or jury trying the case shall determine the credibility of the
171	171	witness and the weight to be given the witness's testimony.
172	172	SECTION 10. The following laws are repealed:
173	173	(1) Section 2.001(b), Family Code;
174	174	(2) Section 6.204, Family Code; and
175	175	(3) Sections 810.001(g), (h), and (i), Government
176	176	Code.
177	177	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.