1-1     By:  Thompson, Hill (Senate Sponsor - Harris)          H.B. No. 145
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
 1-3     May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 12, 1999, rereferred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-5     May 13, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 3,
 1-6     Nays 0; May 13, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to garnishment of wages for the enforcement of
1-10     court-ordered spousal maintenance.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 8.002, Family Code, is amended to read as
1-13     follows:
1-14           Sec. 8.002.  ELIGIBILITY FOR MAINTENANCE; COURT ORDER.
1-15     (a)  In a suit for dissolution of a marriage or in a proceeding for
1-16     maintenance in a court with personal jurisdiction over both former
1-17     spouses following the dissolution of their marriage by a court that
1-18     lacked personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse, the court may
1-19     order maintenance for either spouse only if:
1-20                 (1)  the spouse from whom maintenance is requested was
1-21     convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a criminal
1-22     offense that also constitutes an act of family violence under
1-23     Chapter 71 and the offense occurred:
1-24                       (A)  within two years before the date on which a
1-25     suit for dissolution of the marriage is filed; or
1-26                       (B)  while the suit is pending; or
1-27                 (2)  the duration of the marriage was 10 years or
1-28     longer, the spouse seeking maintenance lacks sufficient property,
1-29     including property distributed to the spouse under this code, to
1-30     provide for the spouse's minimum reasonable needs, as limited by
1-31     Section 8.005, and the spouse seeking maintenance:
1-32                       (A)  is unable to support himself or herself
1-33     through appropriate employment because of an incapacitating
1-34     physical or mental disability;
1-35                       (B)  is the custodian of a child who requires
1-36     substantial care and personal supervision because a physical or
1-37     mental disability makes it necessary, taking into consideration the
1-38     needs of the child, that the spouse not be employed outside the
1-39     home; or
1-40                       (C)  clearly lacks earning ability in the labor
1-41     market adequate to provide support for the spouse's minimum
1-42     reasonable needs, as limited by Section 8.005.
1-43           (b)  A court may enforce an order for spousal maintenance
1-44     under this section by ordering garnishment of the  wages of the
1-45     person ordered to pay the maintenance or by any other means
1-46     available under Section 8.009.
1-47           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, but only
1-48     if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 76th Legislature,
1-49     Regular Session, 1999, allowing garnishment of wages for spousal
1-50     support, takes effect.  If that amendment is not approved by the
1-51     voters, this Act has no effect.
1-52           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-53     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-54     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-55     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-56     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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