89R10963 AMF-D

By: King S.B. No. 1956

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to an application for and the issuance of a marriage license after the marriage ceremony has been conducted.

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

SECTION 1. Section 2.001(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A man and a woman desiring to enter into a ceremonial marriage must obtain a marriage license from the county clerk of any county of this state. The man and woman may obtain the marriage license after the marriage ceremony only in accordance with Section 2.0025.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 2, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 2.0025 to read as follows:

Sec. 2.0025. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE AFTER MARRIAGE CEREMONY; AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED. To apply for a marriage license after the marriage ceremony has been conducted, in addition to satisfying the requirements under Section 2.002, each person applying for the marriage license must submit to the county clerk an affidavit in the form prescribed by the bureau of vital statistics that:

(1) contains a heading entitled, "Post-Ceremony Marriage Affidavit, ____________ County, Texas";

(2) attests the marriage ceremony has taken place;

(3) includes:

(A) the date of the marriage and the county in which the marriage was performed; and

(B) the name of the person who conducted the ceremony; and

(4) is signed by:

(A) both applicants for the marriage license;

(B) two witnesses to the ceremony; and

(C) the person who conducted the ceremony.

SECTION 3. Section 2.004, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) 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 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: "I am ceremonially married to the other applicant and am including a completed Post-Ceremony Marriage Affidavit with this application, I am not presently married to a person other than the other applicant, and the other applicant is not presently married to a person other than myself" together with an explanation that an applicant who checks "true" in response to the statement is not required to check "true" or "false" under Subdivision (5);

(7) 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.";

(8) [(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.";

(9) [(8)] a printed oath reading: "I SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR AFFIRM) THAT THE INFORMATION I HAVE GIVEN IN THIS APPLICATION IS CORRECT.";

(10) [(9)] spaces immediately below the printed oath for the applicants' signatures;

(11) [(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;

(12) [(11)] spaces for indicating the date of the marriage and the county in which the marriage is performed;

(13) [(12)] a space for the address to which the applicants desire the completed license to be mailed; and

(14) [(13)] a printed box for each applicant to check indicating that the applicant wishes to make a voluntary contribution of $5 to promote healthy early childhood by supporting the Texas Home Visiting Program administered by the Office of Early Childhood Coordination of the Health and Human Services Commission.

(d) An applicant commits an offense if the applicant knowingly provides false information under Subsection (b)(5), [or] (6), or (7). An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.

(e) An applicant who checks "true" under Subsection (b)(6) is not required to check "true" or "false" under Subsection (b)(5).

SECTION 4. Section 2.008(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The county clerk shall:

(1) determine that:

(A) all necessary information is recorded in the application, other than, if the ceremony has not yet been performed, the date of the marriage ceremony, the county in which the ceremony is conducted, and the name of the person who performs the ceremony;[, is recorded on the application] and

(B) [that] all necessary documents are submitted;

(2) administer the oath to each applicant appearing before the clerk;

(3) have each applicant appearing before the clerk sign the application in the clerk's presence; and

(4) execute the clerk's certificate on the application.

SECTION 5. Sections 2.009(a) and (b), Family Code, are 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 18 years of age and has not presented:

(A) a court order granted by this state under Chapter 31 removing the disabilities of minority of the applicant for general purposes; or

(B) if the applicant is a nonresident minor, a certified copy of an order removing the disabilities of minority of the applicant for general purposes filed with this state under Section 31.007;

(4) checks "false" in response to a statement under Section 2.004(b)(5), (7), or (8) 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

(5) 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.

(b) If an applicant checks "false" in response to the statement "I am not presently married and the other applicant is not presently married[,]" under Section 2.004(b)(5), 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 6. Section 2.203(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) On receiving an unexpired marriage license, or, if applicable, on being informed by each person requesting to be married in the ceremony that the persons to be married intend to apply for a marriage license after the ceremony in accordance with Section 2.0025, an authorized person may conduct the marriage ceremony as provided by this subchapter.

SECTION 7. Section 2.204, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2.204. 72-HOUR WAITING PERIOD; EXCEPTIONS. (a) Except as provided by this section:

(1) [,] a marriage ceremony may not take place during the 72-hour period immediately following the issuance of the marriage license; or

(2) if the marriage ceremony is conducted before the marriage license is issued, the applicants may not apply for a marriage license under Section 2.0025 during the 72-hour period immediately following the ceremony.

(b) The 72-hour waiting period under Subsection (a) [after issuance of a marriage license] does not apply to an applicant who:

(1) is a member of the armed forces of the United States and on active duty;

(2) is not a member of the armed forces of the United States but performs work for the United States Department of Defense as a department employee or under a contract with the department;

(3) obtains a written waiver under Subsection (c); or

(4) completes a premarital education course described by Section 2.013, and who provides to the county clerk a premarital education course completion certificate indicating completion of the premarital education course not more than one year before the date the marriage license application is filed with the clerk.

(c) An applicant may request a judge of a court with jurisdiction in family law cases, a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the court of criminal appeals, a county judge, a judge of a court of appeals, an associate judge appointed under Chapter 201, an associate judge appointed under Chapter 54A, Government Code, or a justice of the peace for a written waiver permitting the marriage ceremony to take place during the 72-hour period immediately following the issuance of the marriage license or permitting the applicant to apply for a marriage license under Section 2.0025 during the 72-hour period immediately following the marriage ceremony, as applicable. If the judge, associate judge, or justice finds that there is good cause [for the marriage to take place during the period], the judge, associate judge, or justice shall sign the waiver. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a judge, associate judge, or justice under this section has the authority to sign a waiver under this section.

SECTION 8. The heading to Section 2.206, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2.206. RETURN OF LICENSE OR POST-CEREMONY MARRIAGE AFFIDAVIT; PENALTY.

SECTION 9. Section 2.206(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The person who conducts a marriage ceremony shall, as applicable:

(1) record on the license the date on which and the county in which the ceremony is performed and the person's name, subscribe the license, and return the license to the county clerk who issued it not later than the 30th day after the date the ceremony is conducted; or

(2) record on a Post-Ceremony Marriage Affidavit the date on which and the county in which the ceremony was performed and the person's name, subscribe the affidavit, and return the affidavit to a person who was married in the ceremony.

SECTION 10. Section 2.207(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A person who is to conduct a marriage ceremony shall, if applicable, determine whether the license has expired from the county clerk's endorsement on the license.

SECTION 11. Section 2.208(a), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The county clerk shall record a [returned] marriage license returned after a marriage ceremony has been conducted or a marriage license that includes a completed Post-Ceremony Marriage Affidavit and mail the license to the address indicated on the application. On request by the applicants, the county clerk may e-mail the marriage license to an e-mail address provided to the county clerk by the applicants in addition to mailing the license.

SECTION 12. Section 6.110, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 6.110. VIOLATION OF 72-HOUR WAITING PERIOD [MARRIAGE LESS THAN 72 HOURS AFTER ISSUANCE OF LICENSE]. (a) The court may grant an annulment of a marriage to a party to the marriage if:

(1) the marriage ceremony took place [in violation of Section 2.204] during the 72-hour period immediately following the issuance of the marriage license in violation of Section 2.204(a)(1); or

(2) the parties to the marriage ceremony applied for a marriage license during the 72-hour period immediately following the ceremony in violation of Section 2.204(a)(2).

(b) A suit may not be brought under this section after the 30th day after the date of the marriage.

SECTION 13. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an application for a marriage license submitted on or after December 1, 2025. An application for a marriage license submitted before that date is governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 14. Not later than December 1, 2025, the vital statistics unit of the Department of State Health Services shall:

(1) prescribe the form of the affidavit required by Section 2.0025, Family Code, as added by this Act; and

(2) update as necessary the form required by Section 2.004, Family Code, as amended by this Act.

SECTION 15. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.