83R9308 KKA-F

By: Zedler H.B. No. 3024

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to premarital education requirements for certain applicants for a marriage license; creating an offense.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 2.004(b) and (c), Family Code, are 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;

(4-a) a space for indicating whether the applicants are required to have completed a premarital education course under Section 2.013(a-1);

(5) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true" or "false" in response to the following statement: "I am not presently married and the other applicant is not presently married.";

(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;

(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption;

(E) a current or former stepchild or stepparent; or

(F) a son or daughter of a parent's 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.

(c) An applicant commits an offense if the applicant knowingly provides false information under Subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), [or] (4), or (4-a). An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.

SECTION 2. Section 2.009(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (d), the county clerk may not issue a license if either applicant:

(1) fails to provide the information required by this subchapter;

(2) fails to submit proof of age and identity;

(3) is under 16 years of age and has not been granted a court order as provided by Section 2.103;

(4) is 16 years of age or older but under 18 years of age and has not presented at least one of the following:

(A) parental consent as provided by Section 2.102;

(B) documents establishing that a prior marriage of the applicant has been dissolved; or

(C) a court order as provided by Section 2.103;

(5) checks "false" in response to a statement in the application, except as provided by Subsection (b) or (d), or fails to make a required declaration in an affidavit required of an absent applicant; [or]

(6) indicates that the applicant has been divorced within the last 30 days, unless:

(A) the applicants were divorced from each other; or

(B) the prohibition against remarriage is waived as provided by Section 6.802; or

(7) indicates that the applicants are required to have completed a premarital education course under Section 2.013(a-1) and fails to submit a certificate provided under Section 2.013(f) that demonstrates completion of a course of the required number of hours during the required period.

SECTION 3. Section 2.013, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Each person, other than a person subject to Subsection (a-1), applying for a marriage license is encouraged to attend a premarital education course of at least eight hours during the year preceding the date of the application for the license.

(a-1) Each person applying for a marriage license is required to attend a premarital education course of at least 10 hours during the year preceding the date of the application for the license if:

(1) either applicant for the license has been divorced; and

(2) either applicant for the license is the parent of a child under 18 years of age who:

(A) is not and has not been married; and

(B) has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes.

(f) A person who provides a premarital education course shall provide a signed and dated completion certificate to each individual who completes the course. The certificate must include the name and number of hours of the course, the name of the course provider, and the completion date.

SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an application for a marriage license submitted to a county clerk on or after the effective date of this Act. An application for a marriage license submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.