Bill Text: MI SB0545 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Family law; marriage and divorce; divorce; require a divorce effects program before entry of judgment of divorce. Amends 1846 RS 84 (MCL 552.1 - 552.45) by adding sec. 5.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 9-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-06-30 - Referred To Committee On Judiciary [SB0545 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0545-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 545
June 30, 2011, Introduced by Senators GLEASON, MOOLENAAR, GREEN, EMMONS, HILDENBRAND, CASWELL, HUNTER, MEEKHOF, JANSEN, JONES and KOWALL and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to amend 1846 RS 84, entitled
"Of divorce,"
(MCL 552.1 to 552.45) by adding section 5.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 5. (1) Except as provided in subsections (6) and (7), the
parties to a divorce shall complete a divorce effects program and
shall complete a questionnaire as provided in this section before
entry of the judgment of divorce. This subsection applies only if 1
or more of the following are true:
(a) The parties are the parents of a minor child.
(b) Either party is the physical custodian of a minor child at
the time the complaint for divorce is filed.
(c) The wife is pregnant and, after the child is born, the
husband would be the child's presumed father. If the pregnancy is
discovered after the complaint is filed, but before entry of the
judgment of divorce, the court shall not enter the judgment until
the parties comply with this section.
(2) Parties to whom subsection (1) applies shall complete a
divorce effects program covering at least all of the following
subjects:
(a) In relation to a child involved in the action:
(i) Developmental stages.
(ii) Responses to divorce.
(iii) Symptoms of maladjustment to divorce and responses to
maladjustment.
(iv) Education or counseling options for the child.
(b) In relation to the parties:
(i) Communication skills.
(ii) Conflict resolution skills.
(iii) Emotional adjustment, family adjustment, financial
adjustment, and work adjustment techniques.
(iv) Stress reduction.
(v) Parallel and cooperative parenting techniques.
(vi) Reconciliation and counseling options, and remarriage
issues.
(vii) Substance abuse information and referral.
(c) Court procedure and process as described in information
available from the relevant office of the friend of the court.
(3) Parties to whom subsection (1) applies shall complete a
questionnaire before completing the divorce effects program under
subsection (2). A completed questionnaire shall be confidential,
shall be reviewed only by the program provider and the court or
court staff or, during a criminal investigation, by a law
enforcement officer or a prosecutor, shall not be a part of the
public record of that divorce action, and is exempt from the
freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. The
questionnaire shall include the following questions as to whether
the divorce will:
(a) Improve, maintain, or diminish the love, affection, and
other emotional ties existing between the parties involved and the
child.
(b) Improve, maintain, or diminish the capacity and
disposition of the parties involved to give the child love,
affections, and guidance and to continue the education and raising
of the child in the child's religion or creed, if any.
(c) Improve, maintain, or diminish the capacity and
disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food,
clothing, medical care, or other remedial care recognized and
permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care and
other material needs.
(d) Upset a stable, satisfactory environment.
(e) Result in a suitable living arrangement for the child
involved.
(f) Improve, maintain, or diminish the mental and physical
health of the parties involved.
(g) Improve, maintain, or diminish the school and community
record of the child.
(h) Improve, maintain, or diminish the willingness and ability
of each of the parents to facilitate and encourage a close and
continuing parent and child relationship between the child and the
other parent.
(i) Reduce domestic violence or mental anguish of any of the
parties involved.
(4) The provider of a divorce effects program under this
section shall issue a certificate to each individual who completes
the program indicating that completion.
(5) If the individual conducting a divorce effects program
under this section is an official representative of a religious
institution, the program may omit a subject listed in subsection
(2) if training or education on that subject would violate a tenet
of the religious institution.
(6) A court shall not order a party to a marriage to
participate in a divorce effects program if the party files a sworn
statement stating that he or she is a victim of domestic violence
by the other party. The sworn statement shall be confidential,
shall be reviewed only by the court or, during a criminal
investigation, by a law enforcement officer or a prosecutor, and
shall not be a part of the public record of that divorce action.
The sworn statement is exempt from the freedom of information act,
1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. The court may otherwise excuse a
party to a divorce action from attending a divorce effects program
for good cause including, but not limited to, availability of the
program or the party's ability to pay. If a party is not exempt or
excused from a divorce effects program as provided in this
subsection and the party fails to complete a divorce effects
program, the court may hold the party in contempt, punishable as
provided in the revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL
600.101 to 600.9947, or may impose another sanction reasonable in
the circumstances, and may enter a judgment of divorce despite the
party's failure to complete a divorce effects program.
(7) If a court has instituted a program similar to a divorce
effects program described under subsection (1) before the effective
date of the amendatory act that added this section, the court is in
compliance with this section and is not required to institute or
order another program.
(8) As used in this section, "domestic violence" means that
term as defined in section 1 of 1978 PA 389, MCL 400.1501.
