By Thompson H.B. No. 638
76R2244 JMM-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. Subtitle C, Title 1, Family Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Chapter 10 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 10. ALIMONY
1-8 Sec. 10.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "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. 10.002. ORDER FOR ALIMONY. In a suit for divorce or in
1-12 a 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. 10.003. AMOUNT AND PERIOD OF ALIMONY; FACTORS
1-24 CONSIDERED BY COURT. (a) A court ordering alimony under this
2-1 chapter shall order payments in an amount and for a period that the
2-2 court 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) standard of living established during the
2-15 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 chapter.
2-25 SECTION 2. Chapter 8, Family Code, is repealed.
2-26 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-27 applies only to a suit for divorce in which a final decree has not
3-1 been rendered before the effective date of this Act.
3-2 (b) This Act applies to a proceeding in a court with
3-3 personal jurisdiction over both former spouses following the
3-4 dissolution of their marriage by a court that lacked personal
3-5 jurisdiction over an absent spouse.
3-6 (c) A suit for divorce to which this Act does not apply is
3-7 governed by the law in effect on the date on which the final decree
3-8 was rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-9 purpose.
3-10 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.