Senate Bill No. 252

(By Senators Harrison, Kessler and McCabe)

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[Introduced January 24, 2006; referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §59-1-10a , relating to establishing a marriage license discount if the applicants show proof of a certificate of completion of an approved premarital counseling course.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §59-1-10a , to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.
§59-1-10a. Marriage license discount.
(a) A county shall discount a marriage license fee under section ten of this article if the couple to be married has completed, within one year before the date of the application for the license, a premarital counseling course that addresses the following subjects and meets the specified time requirement:
(1) Conflict management;
(2) Communication skills;
(3) Financial responsibilities;
(4) Children and parenting responsibilities; and
(5) Consists of at least four hours of instruction.
(b) A premarital counseling course may be conducted by a clinical professional counselor licensed in the state or any person listed on the registry to perform marriages in the Secretary of State's office.
(c) A premarital counseling course provider shall provide to each couple who completes the course a certificate of completion that specifies:
(1) The names of the couple;
(2) The name of the provider; and
(3) The date of completion of the course.
(d) To receive a discounted marriage license fee under this section an applicant for a license must verify completion of a premarital counseling course by presenting to the clerk of the county commission a valid certificate of course completion issued in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.
(e) The amount of the discount is twenty percent of the marriage license fee. The discount shall be taken to offset the portion of fees not yet dedicated in section ten, article one, chapter fifty-nine of this code from the regular marriage license fee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a marriage license discount for applicants who complete an approved premarital counseling course.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.