A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce - Razorplanet

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3. MODEL LEGISLATION FOR THE
SECOND CHANCES ACT
A BILL REQUIRING A MANDATORY ONE-YEAR WAITING
PERIOD PRIOR TO MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION
The following language is based on a proposal by John Crouch, a divorce
lawyer in Virginia: 63
1. A court shall grant a divorce only after 365 days from the date of service on
the respondent where the parties have children who are eighteen years of
age or younger, except as provided in the following subsection:
n When the respondent has been convicted, during the marriage, of a violent
or sexual felony against the petitioner or a minor child; or
n When a court has made a final, non-preliminary civil protection order
against the divorce respondent, based on a final determination that the
respondent committed or threatened physical violence against the divorce
petitioner or a minor child of the divorce petitioner, where the respondent
had advance notice and an opportunity to participate in an evidentiary
hearing.
2. TEMPORARY RELIEF. Married persons living apart, whether or not they have
asked a court for divorce, separation, annulment, or dissolution, may nonetheless
ask for any of the following temporary relief, in a court that would
have jurisdiction in a divorce case or other domestic relations case between
the parties:
a. Parenting time (i.e., child custody, visitation, access, etc.), subject to state
and federal laws on jurisdiction for such cases.