HB-5698, As Passed House, June 29, 2006

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 5698

     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

may 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 a minor child's parents.

     (b) Either party is a minor child's physical custodian at the

time of filing the complaint for divorce.

     (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 related to issues regarding the following:

     (a) 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) Parties to the action:

     (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 may complete a

questionnaire before completing a divorce effects program that

shall be confidential, shall be reviewed only by the program

provider and the court or court staff or, during a criminal

investigation, by law enforcement or a prosecutor, and 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 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 shall issue a

certificate to each individual who completes the program indicating

that completion.

     (5) If the individual conducting a program described in 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) The court shall not order a divorce effects program if a

party to the marriage files a sworn statement stating that the

party 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 law enforcement

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) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that

added this section, if a court has instituted a program similar to

a divorce effects program described under subsection (1), 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.