By Thompson                                           H.B. No. 2099
       74R2534 MJW-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to providing alimony after the dissolution of certain
    1-3  marriages.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Chapter 3, Family Code, is amended by adding
    1-6  Subchapter E to read as follows:
    1-7                        SUBCHAPTER E.  ALIMONY
    1-8        Sec. 3.81.  DEFINITION.  In this subchapter, "alimony" means
    1-9  an award of periodic payments from the future income of one spouse
   1-10  for the support of the other spouse.
   1-11        Sec. 3.82.  ORDER FOR ALIMONY.  In a suit for divorce or in a
   1-12  proceeding in a court with personal jurisdiction over both former
   1-13  spouses following the dissolution of their marriage by a court that
   1-14  lacked personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse, the court may
   1-15  order alimony for either spouse only if it finds that the spouse
   1-16  seeking alimony:
   1-17              (1)  lacks sufficient property to provide for the
   1-18  spouse's reasonable needs; and
   1-19              (2)  is unable to support himself or herself through
   1-20  appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child whose
   1-21  condition or circumstances make it appropriate that the spouse not
   1-22  be required to seek employment outside the home.
   1-23        Sec. 3.83.  AMOUNT AND PERIOD OF ALIMONY; FACTORS CONSIDERED
   1-24  BY COURT.  (a)  A court ordering alimony under this subchapter
    2-1  shall order payments in an amount and for a period that the court
    2-2  considers just, considering:
    2-3              (1)  the rights of each spouse and of any children of
    2-4  the marriage; and
    2-5              (2)  all other relevant factors, including the:
    2-6                    (A)  financial resources of the spouse seeking
    2-7  alimony, including marital property apportioned to that spouse,
    2-8  independent means of meeting the spouse's needs, and the extent to
    2-9  which a provision for the support of a child living with the spouse
   2-10  includes a sum for that spouse as custodian;
   2-11                    (B)  time necessary to acquire sufficient
   2-12  education or training to enable the spouse seeking alimony to find
   2-13  appropriate employment;
   2-14                    (C)  the standard of living established during
   2-15  the marriage;
   2-16                    (D)  duration of the marriage;
   2-17                    (E)  age and physical and emotional condition of
   2-18  the spouse seeking alimony; and
   2-19                    (F)  ability of the spouse from whom alimony is
   2-20  sought to meet that spouse's own needs while meeting the needs of
   2-21  the spouse seeking alimony.
   2-22        (b)  A court may not consider marital misconduct in
   2-23  determining the amount and period of alimony ordered under this
   2-24  subchapter.
   2-25        SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
   2-26  applies only to a suit for divorce in which a final decree has not
   2-27  been rendered before the effective date of this Act.
    3-1        (b)  This Act applies to a proceeding in a court with
    3-2  personal jurisdiction over both former spouses following the
    3-3  dissolution of their marriage by a court that lacked personal
    3-4  jurisdiction over an absent spouse.
    3-5        (c)  A suit for divorce to which this Act does not apply is
    3-6  governed by the law in effect on the date on which the final decree
    3-7  was rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
    3-8  purpose.
    3-9        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-10  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-11  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-12  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-13  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.