79R3893 KSD-D
By: Nixon H.B. No. 1120
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to information required to be included in an application
for a marriage license and an affidavit of an absent applicant for a
marriage license; providing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2.004(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The application form must contain:
(1) a heading entitled "Application for Marriage
License, ____________ County, Texas";
(2) spaces for each applicant's full name, including
the woman's maiden surname, address, social security number, if
any, date of birth, and place of birth, including city, county, and
state;
(3) a space for indicating the document tendered by
each applicant as proof of identity and age;
(4) spaces for indicating whether each applicant has
been divorced within the last 30 days;
(5) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
or "false" in response to the following statements [statement]:
(A) "I am not presently married under the laws of
this state or any other jurisdiction.";
(B) "I do not desire to marry the other applicant
for the purpose of becoming a United States citizen or defrauding
this state or the federal government."; and
(C) "I have not received and will not accept
consideration or payment of any kind for marrying the other
applicant.";
(6) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
or "false" in response to the following statement: "The other
applicant is not related to me as:
(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
adoption;
(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
blood or by adoption;
(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or
half blood or by adoption; or
(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
the whole or half blood or by adoption.";
(7) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
or "false" in response to the following statement: "I am not
presently delinquent in the payment of court-ordered child
support.";
(8) a printed oath reading: "I SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR
AFFIRM) THAT THE INFORMATION I HAVE GIVEN IN THIS APPLICATION IS
CORRECT.";
(9) spaces immediately below the printed oath for the
applicants' signatures;
(10) a certificate of the county clerk that:
(A) each applicant made the oath and the date and
place that it was made; or
(B) an applicant did not appear personally but
the prerequisites for the license have been fulfilled as provided
by this chapter;
(11) spaces for indicating the date of the marriage
and the county in which the marriage is performed; and
(12) a space for the address to which the applicants
desire the completed license to be mailed.
SECTION 2. Section 2.007, Family Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 2.007. AFFIDAVIT OF ABSENT APPLICANT. The affidavit of
an absent applicant must include:
(1) the absent applicant's full name, including the
maiden surname of a female applicant, address, date of birth, place
of birth, including city, county, and state, citizenship, and
social security number, if any;
(2) a declaration that the absent applicant has not
been divorced within the last 30 days;
(3) a declaration that the absent applicant is:
(A) not presently married under the laws of this
state or any other jurisdiction; or
(B) married to the other applicant and they wish
to marry again;
(4) a declaration that the other applicant is not
related to the absent applicant as:
(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
adoption;
(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
blood or by adoption;
(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or
half blood or by adoption; or
(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
the whole or half blood or by adoption;
(5) a declaration that the absent applicant desires to
marry and the name, age, and address of the person to whom the
absent applicant desires to be married;
(6) the approximate date on which the marriage is to
occur;
(7) the reason the absent applicant is unable to
appear personally before the county clerk for the issuance of the
license; [and]
(8) if the absent applicant will be unable to attend
the ceremony, the appointment of any adult, other than the other
applicant, to act as proxy for the purpose of participating in the
ceremony;
(9) a declaration that the applicant does not desire
to marry for the purpose of becoming a United States citizen or
defrauding this state or the federal government; and
(10) a declaration that the applicant has not received
and will not accept consideration or payment of any kind for
marrying the person to whom the absent applicant desires to be
married.
SECTION 3. Section 2.009(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) If an applicant checks "false" in response to the
statement "I am not presently married under the laws of this state
or any other jurisdiction," the county clerk shall inquire as to
whether the applicant is presently married to the other applicant.
If the applicant states that the applicant is currently married to
the other applicant, the county clerk shall record that statement
on the license before the administration of the oath. The county
clerk may not refuse to issue a license on the ground that the
applicants are already married to each other.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 2, Family Code, is amended
by adding Section 2.0125 to read as follows:
Sec. 2.0125. PROSECUTION FOR AGGRAVATED PERJURY. An
applicant who provides false information in an application for a
license under Section 2.004(b)(5), or in an affidavit under Section
2.007(3)(A), (9), or (10), is subject to prosecution for aggravated
perjury under Section 37.03, Penal Code.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application for a marriage license filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application filed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the application was filed, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.