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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to annulment of a marriage on the grounds of concealed |
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divorce. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 6.109, Family Code, is amended to read as |
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follows: |
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Sec. 6.109. CONCEALED DIVORCE. (a) The court may grant an |
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annulment of a marriage to a party to the marriage if: |
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(1) the other party was divorced from a third party |
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within the 30-day period preceding the date of the marriage |
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ceremony; |
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(2) at the time of the marriage ceremony the |
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petitioner did not know, and a reasonably prudent person would not |
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have known, of the divorce; and |
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(3) [since] the petitioner ceased cohabitation with |
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the other party not more than one year after the petitioner |
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discovered or a reasonably prudent person would have discovered the |
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fact of the divorce and [, the petitioner] has not voluntarily |
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cohabited with the other party since ceasing cohabitation. |
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(b) A suit may not be brought under this section after the |
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first anniversary of the date the petitioner discovered or a |
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reasonably prudent person would have discovered the fact of the |
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divorce [marriage]. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to a suit for dissolution of a marriage that is filed on or after the |
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effective date of this Act. A suit for dissolution of a marriage |
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filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law |
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in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |