House Bill 348

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 93-5-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE PARENT, SIBLING OR GUARDIAN OF A COMATOSE PERSON TO FILE FOR DIVORCE FOR SUCH PERSON IF THE OFFENDING SPOUSE HAS BECOME THE PARENT OF ANY CHILDREN OUTSIDE OF THE MARRIAGE; TO AMEND SECTION 93-5-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 93-5-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-5-15. (1) From and after March 15, 1934, any marital contract heretofore or hereafter solemnized by and under which parties have been duly and legally married, and one (1) of the parties to said marriage contract has, or shall become insane to such an extent that it is necessary for a guardian to be appointed for such party, and the other party to such marital contract shall have committed any act which constitutes ground for divorce under the present laws, the guardian for such innocent or incompetent party to such contract of marriage shall have the right to file bill, as such guardian, in the name of his ward, for the dissolution of such marriage, in the same way and manner, and at the same place, and on the same process that said incompetent or insane person could have done, had he not lost his mind.

(2) If one (1) of the parties to a legal marriage contract shall become comatose and the other party shall become the parent of any children outside of the marriage during the time that the party is comatose, then a parent, sibling or guardian of the nonoffending party shall have the right to file a bill in the name of the comatose party for the dissolution of the marriage, in the same way and manner, and at the same place, and on the same process that the comatose party could have done, had the party not been comatose.

SECTION 2. Section 93-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-5-7. The proceedings to obtain a divorce shall be by complaint in chancery, and shall be conducted as other suits in chancery, except that (1) the defendant shall not be required to answer on oath; (2) no judgment by default may be granted but a divorce may be granted on the ground of irreconcilable differences in termtime or vacation; (3) admissions made in the answer shall not be taken as evidence; (4) the clerk shall not set down on the issue docket any divorce case unless upon the request of one (1) of the parties or as provided in Section 93-5-15; (5) the plaintiff may allege only the statutory language as cause for divorce in a separate paragraph in the complaint; provided, however, the defendant shall be entitled to discover any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the issues raised by the claims or defenses of the other; (6) the court shall have full power in its discretion to grant continuances in such cases without the compliance by the parties with any of the requirements of law respecting continuances in other cases; and (7) in all cases, except complaints seeking a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences, the complaint must be accompanied with an affidavit of plaintiff that it is not filed by collusion with the defendant for the purpose of obtaining a divorce, but that the cause or causes for divorce stated in the complaint are true as stated.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.