ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 276
(By Senators Harrison and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 23, 2004; 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 by 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 meets the
following requirements specified in this section.
(b) A premarital counseling course shall include instruction
regarding: (1) Conflict management; (2) communication skills; (3)
financial responsibilities; (4) children and parenting
responsibilities; and (5) consisting of at least four hours of
instruction.
(c) 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.
(d) 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.
(e) To receive a discounted marriage license fee under this
section an applicant for a license shall 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 (d) of this section.
(f) Any cost for a premarital counseling course shall be paid
by the applicant for a marriage license.
(g) The amount of the discount shall be twenty percent of the
marriage license fee. The amount of any discount shall be taken
from the portion of fees not yet dedicated in section ten, article one, chapter fifty-nine of this code from the regular marriage
license fee.