Divorce Prevention Legislation

Info on all pending Texas divorce prevention bills

 Proposed marriage and divorce bills at a glance  - Houston Chronicle.

April 14, 2007

Proposed marriage and divorce bills at a glance

By The Associated Press

Proposed legislation potentially affecting Texans getting married or divorced are:

_House Bill 180, by Rep. William Zedler, R-Arlington: Allows couples applying for a marriage license or couples already married to designate theirs a "covenant marriage," declaring it is to last for life and making divorce more difficult.

_House Bill 1704, by Rep. William Zedler, R-Arlington: Moves the marriage waiting period from 72 hours to 120 hours.

_HB 2684, by Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa: Encourages couples filing for divorce to attend a 10-hour crisis marriage counseling course. The instruction must include conflict management and forgiveness skills.

_SB 583, by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston: Requires a 180-day, or six-month, waiting period for couples seeking a no-fault divorce, up from the current two months. The waiting time would be three months if the couple undergoes 10 hours of marital counseling.

_House Bill 2685, by Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa: Waives the $30 marriage license fee and 72-hour marriage waiting period for couples who take premarital instruction courses. An accompanying bill would make some federal money allocated to the state available for courses.

Nebraska marriage waiting/education bill

April 6: The Total Divorce Blog reports that Nebraska "Senator Mark Christensen has introduced legislation which would make it harder to get married in the state. A McCook Daily Gazette story said ... LB696 would require a 30-day waiting period and a $100 fee for couples who have not attended at least eight hours of marriage education classes. ... couples who do attend ... would not be bound by any waiting period and would just have to pay the current $15 marriage fee
"...   classes would focus on ... conflict management, financial responsibility, and communication and parenting skills. The classes would be taught by ... clergy, marriage counselors or any other qualified instructors.
"... there is an “out” for the terminally ill, people who are going to be transferred to a combat zone, and others who have compelling circumstances. If such circumstances existed, that couple could possibly have the $100 fee and 30-day waiting period waived by the county clerk."
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This sounds like a really well thought out bill. I'd appreciate any more current news anyone has -- please use the comments section.

Federal tax marriage penalty "alive and well"

According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, by way of the Smart Marriages listserv.

> Among those stung by the marriage penalty are couples in which each spouse
> earns roughly the same and who itemize their deductions. In certain cases, the
> penalty can be so large that accountants urge some clients planning to get
> married to consider delaying the ceremony until the following year.

For the full article see the continuation.

Latest on Texas Marriage Education bills

Mike Thompson writes:

As my friend David Moody of Lubbock put it--

The Legislators need to hear from us supporting these bills.  (See Below.)

Tomorrow the legislature will vote on HB2684 (described below).  Please
call, fax or e-mail to let your
state rep's know where you stand on this important legislation and how you
want them to vote. 

From Austin American Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04//14//14marriage.html
Pampa House member pushes three pro-marriage bills

One bill has already lost much of its bite in floor debate

New York approves marriage ed. funding

Chris Gersten of FAMLI and Diane Sollee of Smart Marriages report:

- VICTORY IN NEW YORK

NY FAMLI received the good news that the 2007-2008 New York State budget
includes $125,000 for healthy marriage education programs. Senator Golden,
Anne Downey, Chair of NY Famli, and their colleagues fought hard to secure
the funding.

Famli efforts have now succeeded in winning money for marriage skills
building programs in Utah, New Mexico, and New York.

We need your help to win in your state!
To register as a FAMLI member and to receive regular updates on events in
your state click: 
http://www.famli.us/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=registers

Chris Gersten
Www.famli.us

Texas marriage ed. bill passes House, diluted

Courtesy of Diane Sollee of Smart Marriages and Mike Thompson, Texas chair of Americans for Divorce Reform, here's the latest on this bill. After the article is an even more current update from Diane, with good responses to some of the posturing about marriage education being an intrusion into people's private lives:

- MARRIAGE EDUCATION LEGISLATION IN TEXAS HOUSE

Marriage bill gets an iffy 'I do' in the House
Houston Chronicle
April 12, 2007
Proposal that raises fees unless couples take class faces an uncertain
future in Senate

Severe "marriage penalty" for the disabled

The following posting from Smart Marriages is a reminder that even though the Marriage Penalty in the federal tax code has been abolished (sort of, and not quite permanently), there are many kinds of marriage penalties out there for people who get various government assistance benefits. It is not about any actual legislation, as far as I know.

Utah enacts divorce prevention / trial separation package

                       Text of the legislation, as enacted

                  

In March, 2007, Utah legislator Lorie Fowlke wrote to Smart Marriages:

I am an attorney and Utah state legislator, and attended your conference last year in Atlanta. I just passed the nation's first divorce orientation legislation, HB 128 and it has been funded! This bill is in addition to the already required 2 hour divorce education class for parents. The divorce orientation class is to help them understand the impacts of divorce, provide resources for strengthening their marriage, and resources to go through the divorce and deal with post-divorce issues with less pain, if they proceed. It also allows couples to file for a temporary separation, WITHOUT filing for divorce, for up to one year. During the separation, they must take the course. If they proceed with the divorce, the relatively small filing fee for the temporary separation is applied to the divorce filing fee. It passed the HOUSE unanimously and the Senate with only one dissenting vote. The court administrator's office is ready to begin implementation through the office that now administers the divorce education class for parents.

I would like people to know about this legislation so that they can introduce something similar in their state. I appreciate all that you do for marriage and families in this country.

Copy and paste this URL into your browser and you will have several options
to retrieve the text or even listen to committee and floor debates:   
http://le.utah.gov/~2007/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0128S01.htm

Lorie D. Fowlke
Representative
District 59
Orem, Utah

Texas marriage skills education bills

Diane Sollee writes, on the Smart Marriages listerv:

Marriage legislation is being introduced in Texas in three parts: 1) The 1%
Solution; 2) A Pre-marital Education Incentive and 3) Mandatory skills-based
Divorce Education. ... Here are
various media treatments of the proposals. 

New Mexico, Utah approve state funding for marriage skills training

" The New Mexico legislature just passed, and Governor Richardson just signed,
> an appropriations bill that included over $250,000 for marriage strengthening
> programs in the state.  That makes NM the second state this year, along with
> Utah, to appropriate money for marriage strengthening. Even more
> significantly, New Mexico is the first "BLUE" state, with a Democratic
> governor and Democratic controlled House and Senate, to pass marriage
> strengthening legislation."
Posting on the Smart Marriages listserv by Chris Gersten of   The Fatherhood and Marriage Leadership Institute (FAMLI).

FAMLI's web site is probably the best place to watch for news about state legislation to fund marriage education programs.