BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 869 |
By: Ashby |
Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Marriage by proxy allows for an individual to stand in for another person while applying for a marriage license. Under certain circumstances, if an individual is unable to appear in person for the application or the ceremony, the individual can sign an affidavit naming another person to represent that individual. According to interested parties, Texas is one of only four states that allows for marriage by proxy.
There is concern that, in its present form, this process allows for potential fraud and abuse. Concerned parties contend that there have been documented cases where individuals have fraudulently acquired a marriage license by proxy without the other person's knowledge, enabling them to receive entitlement benefits. C.S.H.B. 869 seeks to address these concerns while preserving the full benefits of marriage by proxy for certain members of the U.S. military.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 869 amends the Family Code to specify that the affidavit required to be provided to a county clerk by the person applying on behalf of each absent applicant for a marriage license must declare that the applicant is a member of the U.S. military stationed in another country in support of combat or another military operation, rather than that the applicant is on active duty as a member of the U.S. military or the state military forces. The bill removes a provision authorizing the county clerk to issue a marriage license for which both applicants are absent if the person applying on behalf of each absent applicant provides to the clerk such an affidavit declaring that the absent applicant is confined in a correctional facility. The bill requires a county clerk who issues a marriage license for an absent applicant to maintain the affidavit of the absent applicant and the application for the marriage license in the same manner that the clerk maintains an application for a marriage license submitted by two applicants in person. The bill requires the affidavit of an absent applicant to include the appointment of a proxy for the purposes of participating in the ceremony only if the applicant is a member of the U.S. military stationed in another country in support of combat or another military operation and is unable to attend the ceremony and authorizes a person to assent to marriage by the appearance of a proxy appointed in the applicant's affidavit only under those circumstances.
C.S.H.B. 869 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the county clerk to file with the bureau of vital statistics a copy of any affidavit of an absent applicant submitted with an application, in addition to a copy of each completed marriage license application.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 869 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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