88R1832 MLH-F
By: Cook H.B. No. 980
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the privilege against disclosure of certain
collaborative family law communications.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 15.115(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The privilege prescribed by Section 15.114 does not
apply to a collaborative family law communication that is:
(1) in an agreement resulting from the collaborative
family law process, evidenced in a record signed by all parties to
the agreement;
(2) subject to an express waiver of the privilege in a
record or orally during a proceeding if the waiver is made by all
parties and nonparty participants;
(3) available to the public under Chapter 552,
Government Code, or made during a session of a collaborative family
law process that is open, or is required by law to be open, to the
public;
(4) a threat or statement of a plan to inflict bodily
injury or commit a crime of violence;
(5) a disclosure of a plan to commit or attempt to
commit a crime, or conceal an ongoing crime or ongoing criminal
activity;
(6) a disclosure in a report of:
(A) suspected abuse or neglect of a child to an
appropriate agency under Subchapter B, Chapter 261, or in a
proceeding regarding the abuse or neglect of a child, except that
evidence may be excluded in the case of communications between an
attorney and client under Subchapter C, Chapter 261; or
(B) abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly
or disabled person to an appropriate agency under Subchapter B,
Chapter 48, Human Resources Code; or
(7) sought or offered to prove or disprove:
(A) a claim or complaint of professional
misconduct or malpractice arising from or related to a
collaborative family law process;
(B) an allegation that the settlement agreement
was procured by fraud, duress, coercion, or other dishonest means
or that terms of the settlement agreement are illegal; or
(C) the necessity and reasonableness of
attorney's fees and related expenses incurred during a
collaborative family law process or to challenge or defend the
enforceability of the collaborative family law settlement
agreement[; or
[(D) a claim against a third person who did not
participate in the collaborative family law process].
SECTION 2. Section 15.115, Family Code, as amended by this
Act, applies to a disclosure made on or after the effective date of
this Act, regardless of whether the communication that is the
subject of the disclosure was made before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.