Subcommittee, Dorr Take Testimony On Divorce Laws

A legislative subcommittee looking into divorce laws heard testimony Thursday from a marriage counselor, a divorcee and the Idaho Family Forum.

All said there should be more effort to persuade divorcing couples to reconcile.

The subcommittee was formed after Rep. Tom Dorr, R-Post Falls, proposed a bill to make divorces more difficult. It would have required mutual consent before a couple could be divorced on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. After concerns were raised about how that would affect divorces involving abusive spouses, the bill was killed and the subcommittee was formed.

Dorr sat with the subcommittee Thursday, and outlined his proposal.

Clark Swain, a Boise family and marriage counselor, told the group, “Many husbands and wives think they have irreconcilable differences, but they don’t.”

Though the subcommittee has no legislation pending, member Rep. Max Black, R-Boise, said he planned to introduce a bill to promote pre-divorce mediation.