CONTRIBUTED PHOTO A bill allowing couples to waive no-fault divorce advanced Monday from an Iowa Senate subcommittee.

A bill that would allow couples registering for marriage licenses to opt out of no-fault divorce advanced from an Iowa Senate subcommittee Monday.

Senate File 2172, introduced by Sen. Jesse Green, R-Harcourt, would allow couples applying for a marriage license to “jointly waive dissolution of marriage based solely on the breakdown of the marriage relationship” by filing a waiver with the county registrar.

If a waiver was in place, a person petitioning for a divorce would have to show proof on the part of the spouse of adultery, imprisonment for a felony, abandonment from the marital domicile for at least a year, physical or sexual abuse of the petitioner or a child, or a separation of two years or more.

Green, who chaired a subcommittee meeting on the bill Monday, said some of his Christian friends believe prenuptial agreements, which allow a marrying couple to agree in advance to terms of divorce and division of assets, are a violation of their conscience.

He characterized no-fault divorce as “chaos” and a “circus.”

“Sure, the divorce rates have lessened, which is a great thing, but so has the marriage rates,” Green said. “A lot of people are not getting married anymore because maybe in some cases, they feel the lack of support and accountability with our law.”

Most of the speakers at the subcommittee meeting opposed the bill, saying the state should not make it more difficult for a person to leave an abusive spouse by requiring proof.

“This bill largely legally enables abusive partners to keep spouses trapped in dangerous relationships by requiring domestic violence victims to prove fault,” Laura Hessberg of Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence said.

Family law attorneys also pointed out the need to prove cause in divorce proceedings would further strain Iowa’s court system.

Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, declined to sign off on the bill.

Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, said he’d be willing to consider a bill if it were “completely rewritten” to allow the waiver only for matters of child custody and division of assets. He said he’d support a way to prevent an abusive spouse from receiving 50% of the couple’s assets and joint custody of children in a divorce.

He added that while the waiver of no-fault divorce would be voluntary, “When you get married, you don’t believe that anything’s going to go wrong.”

Green said he’d ben amenable to rewriting the bill, which moved forward with a recommendation for amendment. Most legislation needs approval by a full committee by Feb. 20 to remain eligible for debate.