Bill Text: TX HB869 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the issuance of a marriage license for an absent applicant, the participation of a proxy in certain marriage ceremonies, and the maintenance and submission of records relating to a marriage license issued for an absent applicant.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 5)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/13 [HB869 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB869-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 869

AN ACT
relating to the issuance of a marriage license for an absent
applicant, the participation of a proxy in certain marriage
ceremonies, and the maintenance and submission of records relating
to a marriage license issued for an absent applicant.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2.006(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the clerk may not issue
a marriage license for which both applicants are absent unless the
person applying on behalf of each absent applicant provides to the
clerk an affidavit of the applicant declaring that the applicant
is[:
[(1) on active duty as] a member of the armed forces of
the United States stationed in another country in support of combat
or another military operation [or the state military forces; or
[(2) confined in a correctional facility, as defined
by Section 1.07, Penal Code].
SECTION 2. Section 2.007, Family Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 2.007. AFFIDAVIT OF ABSENT APPLICANT. The affidavit
of an absent applicant must include:
(1) the absent applicant's full name, including the
maiden surname of a female applicant, address, date of birth, place
of birth, including city, county, and state, citizenship, and
social security number, if any;
(2) a declaration that the absent applicant has not
been divorced within the last 30 days;
(3) a declaration that the absent applicant is:
(A) not presently married; or
(B) married to the other applicant and they wish
to marry again;
(4) a declaration that the other applicant is not
presently married and is not related to the absent applicant 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;
(5) a declaration that the absent applicant desires to
marry and the name, age, and address of the person to whom the
absent applicant desires to be married;
(6) the approximate date on which the marriage is to
occur;
(7) the reason the absent applicant is unable to
appear personally before the county clerk for the issuance of the
license; and
(8) [if the absent applicant will be unable to attend
the ceremony,] the appointment of any adult, other than the other
applicant, to act as proxy for the purpose of participating in the
ceremony, if the absent applicant is:
(A) a member of the armed forces of the United
States stationed in another country in support of combat or another
military operation; and
(B) unable to attend the ceremony.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 2, Family Code, is amended
by adding Section 2.0071 to read as follows:
Sec. 2.0071. MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS BY CLERK RELATING TO
LICENSE FOR ABSENT APPLICANT. A county clerk who issues a marriage
license for an absent applicant shall 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.
SECTION 4. Section 2.203(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A person [unable to appear for the ceremony] may assent
to marriage by the appearance of a proxy appointed in the affidavit
authorized by Subchapter A if the person is:
(1) a member of the armed forces of the United States
stationed in another country in support of combat or another
military operation; and
(2) unable to attend the ceremony.
SECTION 5. Section 194.001(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The county clerk shall file with the bureau of vital
statistics a copy of each completed marriage license application
and a copy of any affidavit of an absent applicant submitted with an
application. The clerk shall file the copies [copy] not later than
the 90th day after the date of the application. The clerk may not
collect a fee for filing the copies [copy].
SECTION 6. Sections 2.006 and 2.007, Family Code, as
amended by this Act, apply to an application for a marriage license
filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application
filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date
the application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 869 was passed by the House on April
11, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 869 was passed by the Senate on May
22, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor