81R1178 JSC-D
 
  By: Estes S.B. No. 2352
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to marriage education courses for certain couples filing
  for divorce on the grounds of insupportability.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 6, Family Code, is amended
  by adding Section 6.4025 to read as follows:
         Sec. 6.4025.  CRISIS MARRIAGE EDUCATION REQUIRED IN CERTAIN
  SUITS. (a) This section applies to a suit for dissolution of
  marriage filed on the grounds of insupportability and in which the
  household of one of the parties is the primary residence for:
               (1)  a child under the age of 18;
               (2)  a child 18 years of age who is attending high
  school; or
               (3)  an adult disabled child as described by Section
  154.302.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a petition in a
  suit for dissolution of a marriage must be accompanied by a
  completion certificate for a crisis marriage education course under
  Section 6.412 completed by the petitioner not more than one year
  before the date the petition is filed.
         (c)  Not later than the 14th day after the date the
  respondent receives notice of the suit for dissolution of marriage,
  the respondent may file with the court a completion certificate for
  a crisis marriage education course under Section 6.412 completed by
  the respondent not more than one year before the date the petition
  is filed.
         (d)  If a party submits evidence under Subsection (e), the
  court may not:
               (1)  require a completion certificate for a crisis
  marriage education course to be submitted with the petition; or
               (2)  consider the completion of the crisis marriage
  education course as a factor in rendering an order affecting the
  rights or responsibilities of the parties.
         (e)  Either party may submit to the court evidence that the
  other party to the suit has committed family violence against the
  party or mentally, emotionally, verbally, or psychologically
  abused the party, including:
               (1)  a copy of a protective order issued under Title 4
  against the other party because of family violence;
               (2)  a police record documenting family violence by the
  other party against the party submitting the evidence;
               (3)  a statement by a physician or other medical
  evidence that indicates that the party submitting the evidence was
  a victim of family violence; or
               (4)  a sworn statement by a counselor or advocate in a
  family violence program that indicates that the party submitting
  the evidence was a victim of family violence or mental, emotional,
  verbal, or psychological abuse.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 6, Family Code, is amended
  by adding Section 6.412 to read as follows:
         Sec. 6.412.  CRISIS MARRIAGE EDUCATION COURSES.  (a) Each
  party to a suit for dissolution of a marriage is encouraged to
  attend a crisis marriage education course of at least 10 hours,
  completed within a 30-day period. The goal of the course, and the
  focus of each component of the course, is marriage restoration.
         (b)  A crisis marriage education course must, at a minimum,
  include instruction in:
               (1)  conflict management;
               (2)  communication skills; and
               (3)  forgiveness skills.
         (c)  A course under this section should be offered by
  instructors trained and certified in a skills-based and
  research-based marriage curriculum. The following individuals and
  organizations may provide courses:
               (1)  marriage educators;
               (2)  clergy or their designees;
               (3)  licensed mental health professionals;
               (4)  faith-based organizations; and
               (5)  community-based organizations.
         (d)  A person who takes a course under this section shall pay
  any fee charged for the course.
         (e)  A person who provides a marriage education course shall
  provide a signed and dated completion certificate to each person
  who completes the course. The certificate must include the name of
  the course, the name of the course provider, and the completion
  date.
         (f)  The Health and Human Services Commission shall maintain
  an Internet website on which individuals and organizations
  described by Subsection (c) may electronically register with the
  commission to indicate the skills-based and research-based
  curriculum in which the registrant is certified. The executive
  commissioner shall notify each county clerk and district clerk
  about the website. The clerk of the court in which a petition for
  dissolution of a marriage based on insupportability is filed shall
  give the person filing the petition information about the website
  along with the location of libraries or other resource centers that
  provide access to the Internet.
         SECTION 3.  Section 7.002, Family Code, is amended by adding
  Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  In ordering a division of the estate of parties subject
  to Section 6.4025, the court shall consider whether a party has
  filed with the court a completion certificate for a crisis marriage
  education course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not
  more than one year before the date the petition for dissolution of
  marriage is filed.
         SECTION 4.  Section 8.052, Family Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 8.052.  FACTORS IN DETERMINING MAINTENANCE.  A court
  that determines that a spouse is eligible to receive maintenance
  under this chapter shall determine the nature, amount, duration,
  and manner of periodic payments by considering all relevant
  factors, including:
               (1)  the financial resources of the spouse seeking
  maintenance, including the community and separate property and
  liabilities apportioned to that spouse in the dissolution
  proceeding, and that spouse's ability to meet the spouse's needs
  independently;
               (2)  the education and employment skills of the
  spouses, the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or
  training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to find
  appropriate employment, the availability of that education or
  training, and the feasibility of that education or training;
               (3)  the duration of the marriage;
               (4)  the age, employment history, earning ability, and
  physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;
               (5)  the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is
  requested to meet that spouse's personal needs and to provide
  periodic child support payments, if applicable, while meeting the
  personal needs of the spouse seeking maintenance;
               (6)  acts by either spouse resulting in excessive or
  abnormal expenditures or destruction, concealment, or fraudulent
  disposition of community property, joint tenancy, or other property
  held in common;
               (7)  the comparative financial resources of the
  spouses, including medical, retirement, insurance, or other
  benefits, and the separate property of each spouse;
               (8)  the contribution by one spouse to the education,
  training, or increased earning power of the other spouse;
               (9)  the property brought to the marriage by either
  spouse;
               (10)  the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
               (11)  marital misconduct of the spouse seeking
  maintenance; [and]
               (12)  the efforts of the spouse seeking maintenance to
  pursue available employment counseling as provided by Chapter 304,
  Labor Code; and
               (13)  if the suit for dissolution was subject to
  Section 6.4025, whether either spouse has filed with the court a
  completion certificate for a crisis marriage education course under
  Section 6.412 completed by the spouse not more than one year before
  the date the petition for dissolution of marriage is filed.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter A, Chapter 153, Family Code, is
  amended by adding Section 153.0035 to read as follows:
         Sec. 153.0035.  CONSIDERATION OF COMPLETION OF CRISIS
  MARRIAGE EDUCATION COURSE. In determining whether to appoint a
  party as a sole or joint managing conservator, the court shall
  consider whether a party in a suit subject to Section 6.4025 has
  filed with the court a completion certificate for a crisis marriage
  education course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not
  more than one year before the date the petition for dissolution of
  marriage is filed.
         SECTION 6.  Section 154.123(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  In determining whether application of the guidelines
  would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances, the court
  shall consider evidence of all relevant factors, including:
               (1)  the age and needs of the child;
               (2)  the ability of the parents to contribute to the
  support of the child;
               (3)  any financial resources available for the support
  of the child;
               (4)  the amount of time of possession of and access to a
  child;
               (5)  the amount of the obligee's net resources,
  including the earning potential of the obligee if the actual income
  of the obligee is significantly less than what the obligee could
  earn because the obligee is intentionally unemployed or
  underemployed and including an increase or decrease in the income
  of the obligee or income that may be attributed to the property and
  assets of the obligee;
               (6)  child care expenses incurred by either party in
  order to maintain gainful employment;
               (7)  whether either party has the managing
  conservatorship or actual physical custody of another child;
               (8)  the amount of alimony or spousal maintenance
  actually and currently being paid or received by a party;
               (9)  the expenses for a son or daughter for education
  beyond secondary school;
               (10)  whether the obligor or obligee has an automobile,
  housing, or other benefits furnished by his or her employer,
  another person, or a business entity;
               (11)  the amount of other deductions from the wage or
  salary income and from other compensation for personal services of
  the parties;
               (12)  provision for health care insurance and payment
  of uninsured medical expenses;
               (13)  special or extraordinary educational, health
  care, or other expenses of the parties or of the child;
               (14)  the cost of travel in order to exercise
  possession of and access to a child;
               (15)  positive or negative cash flow from any real and
  personal property and assets, including a business and investments;
               (16)  debts or debt service assumed by either party;
  [and]
               (17)  if the obligee and obligor were parties in a suit
  subject to Section 6.4025, whether either party has filed with the
  court a completion certificate for a crisis marriage education
  course under Section 6.412 completed by the party not more than one
  year before the date the petition for dissolution of marriage is
  filed; and
               (18)  any other reason consistent with the best
  interest of the child, taking into consideration the circumstances
  of the parents.
         SECTION 7.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a suit for dissolution of a marriage filed on or after the
  effective date of this Act. A suit for dissolution of a marriage
  filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
  in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2010.