BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3754

By: Talarico

Juvenile Justice & Family Issues

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

While no explicit statute or law on the books governs the process of divorce if one of the parties is pregnant, it is common practice for Texas courts to delay the dissolution of marriage when that is the case. A party can file for divorce while pregnant and negotiate agreements regarding custody and dividing assets, but it is not until the end of the pregnancy that the divorce can be finalized. C.S.H.B. 3754 seeks to address this issue by prohibiting a court from denying or delaying rendering a decree of dissolution of marriage solely because a party to the suit is pregnant. Additionally, it provides that a decree of dissolution of marriage rendered while a party to the suit is pregnant does not affect proceedings in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship regarding the unborn child.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3754 amends the Family Code to require a suit for dissolution of a marriage, if a party to the suit discloses to the court that a party is pregnant, to include a suit affecting the parent‑child relationship regarding the unborn child. The bill prohibits a court from denying or delaying rendering a decree of dissolution of marriage solely because a party to the suit is pregnant. If a party to the suit is known by the court to be pregnant, the court may, on a showing of good cause, sever a suit affecting the parent-child relationship joined with the suit for dissolution of the marriage or sever a claim or other matter related to division of the marital estate. The bill sets out the following provisions with which a court must comply if it severs such a suit, claim, or other matter:

· a requirement for the court to render, as applicable, orders for injunctive or other relief the court considers necessary to protect, until final adjudication of the matter severed:

o the parties to the suit for dissolution of the marriage;

o a child or unborn child subject to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that has been severed; and

o the marital estate;

· a prohibition against the court waiving or considering waived any unadjudicated claim pending at the time the matter is severed or that may arise after the court renders a decree for dissolution of the marriage; and

· a prohibition against the court requiring any additional fees in relation to the matter severed.

The bill establishes that a decree of dissolution of marriage rendered while a party to the suit is pregnant does not affect proceedings in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship regarding the unborn child.

C.S.H.B. 3754 authorizes a person who is a party to a suit for dissolution of marriage in which one of the parties is pregnant to file an original suit affecting the parent-child relationship at any time. The bill exempts such a suit from the requirement that the petition for filing a suit affecting the parent-child relationship include the name and birth date of the child, and requires the petition for such a suit to state that the child has not been born and the child's expected birth date. The bill requires the petition to be amended as soon as practicable after the child's birth to state the child's name and birth date.

C.S.H.B. 3754 applies to a suit for the dissolution of a marriage or a suit affecting the parent‑child relationship that is filed on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3754 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The introduced required a suit for dissolution of a marriage to include a suit affecting the parent‑child relationship regarding the unborn child if a party to the dissolution suit is pregnant. The substitute revises that requirement to specify that it applies if a party to a suit for dissolution of a marriage discloses to the court that a party is pregnant. The substitute omits provisions in the introduced that did the following with respect to a suit for dissolution of a marriage that involves a pregnant party:

· required the petition in the suit to state that the party is pregnant and whether either party intends to contest the unborn child's paternity; and

· required the court to defer adjudicating issues relating to the suit affecting the parent‑child relationship regarding the unborn child until after the date of the child's birth.

The substitute includes provisions that were not in the introduced authorizing a court, if a party to a suit for dissolution of a marriage is known by the court to be pregnant, to sever on a showing of good cause a suit affecting the parent-child relationship joined with the suit for dissolution of the marriage or a claim or other matter related to division of a marital estate and setting out certain requirements and prohibitions with which a court must comply if it severs such a suit, claim, or other matter.