HB 1878 -- Covenant Marriage

Co-Sponsors:  Roark, Crowell, Rector, Cunningham, Bartle,
Froelker, Kelly (36), Jetton, Bartelsmeyer, Shoemaker (8), Moore,
Phillips, Bearden, Holand, Hunter, Myers, Reinhart, Behnen,
Cierpiot, Enz, Kelley (47), Berkstresser, Dempsey, Quinn, Wright,
Kelly (144), Crawford

This bill establishes an alternative to a traditional marriage
called a covenant marriage.  A covenant marriage requires
premarital counseling and limits the spouses' ability to legally
separate or dissolve the marriage.  In its main provisions, the
bill:

(1)  Requires couples wishing to contract a covenant marriage to
execute and file with the marriage license application a
declaration of intent.  The declaration will contain:

(a)  A recitation that the parties undertake a covenant marriage
with full knowledge of the commitment it requires;

(b)  An affidavit executed by the parties verifying that they
have completed premarital counseling;

(c)  A notarized attestation executed by the person performing
the premarital counseling confirming the parties' completion
thereof; and

(d)  The notarized signature of both parties.  If one or both of
the parties are minors, the written consent of the persons
required to consent to a minor's marriage pursuant to Section
451.090, RSMo, is required also;

(2)  Requires that it be indicated on the marriage license if the
parties have undertaken a covenant marriage;

(3)  Requires officers issuing covenant marriage licenses to
forward copies of covenant marriage declarations to the State
Registrar of vital statistics once a month;

(4)  Allows married couples to convert their marriage into a
covenant marriage by executing a declaration of intent with
substantially the same contents as a declaration executed by
unmarried persons;

(5)  Prohibits legal separation within a covenant marriage unless
the parties first have obtained counseling, and then only upon
certain specified grounds, including:

(a)  Adultery;

(b)  A spouse's conviction for a felony with a sentence of
imprisonment or death;

(c)  A spouse's abandonment of the marital domicile for a period
of two years;

(d)  Physical or sexual abuse of the petitioning spouse or a
child of one of the spouses;

(e)  The spouses' residential separation for a period of two
years; and

(f)  "Habitual intemperance" or "cruel treatment" by one spouse;

(6)  Prohibits dissolution of a covenant marriage unless the
parties first have obtained counseling, and then only upon
certain specified grounds, including:

(a)  Adultery;

(b)  A spouse's conviction for a felony with a sentence of
imprisonment or death;

(c)  A spouse's abandonment of the marital domicile for a period
of two years;

(d)  Physical or sexual abuse of the petitioning spouse or a
child of one of the spouses;

(e)  The spouses' residential separation for a period of two
years;

(f)  The spouses' residential separation for a period of two
years following a judgment of separation if there is no minor
child of the marriage;

(g)  The spouses' residential separation for a period of two
years and six months following a judgment of separation if there
is a minor child of the marriage.  If child abuse was the basis
of the judgment of separation, the subsequent required period of
residential separation is one year; and

(7)  Requires the Attorney General's Office by August 28, 2002,
to promulgate an information pamphlet entitled "Covenant Marriage
Act" outlining the consequences of entering into a covenant
marriage.  The pamphlet will be available to all counselors who
perform covenant marriage premarital counseling.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated October 11, 2002 at 9:02 am