Okla. senator eyes divorce counseling requirement
By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press September 10, 2013 4:10PM
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A Republican state senator who wants to reduce Oklahoma’s high divorce rate said Tuesday he’s mulling a plan to require mandatory counseling before a couple can file for divorce in the state.
Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, the vice chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, held an interim study on the topic because the state continues to land near the top of U.S. rankings for its divorce rate, which costs states hundreds of millions of dollars each year in societal costs.
Although divorce rates nationwide have fallen steadily over the past two decades, Oklahoma’s rate — 5.2 per 1,000 residents — outpaced all but three other states in 2011, the latest data available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The Senate panel heard from several experts on marriage and divorce, including University of Minnesota professor William Doherty, who testified via video teleconference about a 2010 law in Minnesota that requires a four-hour class for all couples with minor children before a divorce is granted. The course, which can be taken face to face or online, is funded through a $5 surcharge on marriage licenses.
But Doherty said Minnesota legislators are considering a change to require courses before couples file for divorce. The courses would include a component on possible reconciliation.
Standridge already has a bill pending in the House that would require mandatory counseling before Oklahoma couples with minor children could divorce, but he said he wants to expand that to include some requirement for counseling before couples can file for divorce.
“What I think you really need is a pre-filing piece,” Standridge said. “I think once they get passed the filing, it’s like the point of no return.
“For Oklahoma, I think something very simple to begin with, maybe a 30-minute piece on reconciliation.”
Oklahoma already offers a steeply discounted marriage license for couples who complete premarital counseling, which drops the rate from $50 to $5.
Among the factors that contribute to Oklahoma’s high divorce rate are lower education status, lower income, and people marrying at younger ages, said Nicole Warehime, a divorce researcher at Oklahoma City University. The average age for a couple marrying in Oklahoma is 21 for a woman and 23 for a man, compared with a national average of 27 for women and 29 for men, Warehime said.
———
Sean Murphy can be reached at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
