Sec. 5. 19-A MRSA §902-A is enacted to read:

§902-A.__Grounds for divorce in a covenant marriage

1.__Counseling.__The parties must obtain counseling before the court may issue a divorce judgment.

2.__Grounds.__After the parties have obtained counseling, a spouse to a covenant marriage may obtain a judgment of divorce only upon proof of any of the following:

A.__The other spouse has committed adultery;

B.__The other spouse has committed a felony or a crime punishable by a year or more imprisonment or by death, and has been sentenced to death or life imprisonment;

C.__The other spouse has abandoned the matrimonial domicile for a period of one year and constantly refuses to return;

D.__The other spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking the divorce or a child of one of the spouses; or

E.__The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of 3 years.

Sec. 6. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2000.

SUMMARY

This bill is modeled on the Louisiana covenant marriage law. It gives a man and a woman the option to enter into a covenant marriage by filing an intention to create a covenant marriage at the time they apply for a marriage license. Husbands and wives who are already married can convert their marriage into a covenant marriage by making the same filing.

Under covenant marriage, the parties must undergo counseling prior to a divorce being granted. The grounds for a divorce dissolving a covenant marriage are limited; "irreconcilable differences" is not recognized as a reason.