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The Parental Divorce Reduction Act

  • The Parental Divorce Reduction Act is a new proposal to reduce unnecessary divorce.

 

  • A broad consensus of studies finds that divorce has serious negative lifelong psychological consequences for children, and costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually. A significant number of these divorces are unnecessary. The goal of this Act is to reduce “unnecessary” divorces where minor children are involved.

 

  • Before filing for divorce, parents of minor children will be required to participate in four to eight hours of face-to-face divorce education classes. The classes will provide information on the effects of divorce on children and adults and teach research-based communication and other relationship skills that help strengthen marriages.

 

  • After completing the classes, parents will need to wait an additional eight months before they may file for divorce, a period that may serve as an opportunity for reflection and reconciliation.

 

  • Exceptions are made for a spouse who is physically abused, abandoned for eighteen months, married to a partner who is incarcerated for five years, or married to someone addicted to alcohol or drugs who refuses to seek treatment and rehabilitation.

 

  • The legislation is budget neutral, requiring the divorcing parties to pay for the cost of the divorce education. TANF funds, when available, may be used to help defray the divorce education fees for the indigent. The cost to the couple should be modest and not exceed $100-200.

 

  • Online divorce education modules will be made available for persons in rural areas or elsewhere who do not have access to face to face divorce education.
Coalition For Divorce Reform

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Standing for Marriage Even After Divorce

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No-Fault Divorce is Bad For Kids. Divorce Justice is the Answer.

October 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment

By Katy Faust My name is Katy Faust and I am the founder and president of Them Before Us. We are a global movement defending children’s right to their mother and father. That makes us fierce opponents of divorce. “Divorce” is another term for the death of a family. With it often comes the death […]

 

 

 

Strengthening Marriages in Florida: A Template for Divorce Reform, Complemented by the Latest in Technology

August 22, 2024 By Leave a Comment

By Seth Eisenberg In the spring of 2000, Jane and Michael stood hand in hand at the altar, excited yet mindful of the challenges that lay ahead. They were like any other young couple—full of hope, but also cautious about the realities of married life. Two years earlier, Florida had introduced the Marriage Preparation and […]

 

 

 

Suffer Little Children

July 16, 2024 By Leave a Comment

by Jason Williams Getting older is weird, at least if you have kids. It’s like doing 30 on the Interstate. Everything else is moving around you so fast that you feel like you’re standing still. I see it the most in my kids’ clothes. Pants, dresses, etc., start out too big so they can grow […]

 

 

 

The Latest Scare Cards to Prop up No-Fault Divorce

May 24, 2024 By Leave a Comment

By Beverly Willett After a rash of rumors about a Republican plot to end unilateral no-fault divorce, a writer for The Atlantic has weighed in. The piece devotes exactly one paragraph to the claim, asserting that “Texas has a chance of actually doing it” because Republicans occupy top seats in the executive branch and control […]

 

 

 

Talking Points from The Longevity Project

1. Children from divorced families died almost five years earlier than those from intact families [page 80]
2. Facing parental divorce during childhood was the single strongest social predictor of early death, many years into the future [p. 80]
3. Having one’s parents divorce during childhood was a much stronger predictor of mortality risk than was parental death [p. 80]
4. The experience of parental divorce was strongly linked to earlier mortality from all causes, including accidents, cancers, and cardiovascular disease [p. 82]...Read more
 
 

Study Demonstrates Reduction in Military Divorce Due to Marriage Education

Findings from a large, randomized controlled trial of couple education are presented in this brief report. Married Army couples were assigned to either PREP for Strong Bonds (n = 248) delivered by Army chaplains or to a no-treatment control group (n = 228)...

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