HB 243 Missouri House · 2025 Regular Session

Allows the court to enter a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation if a person is pregnant

HB 243 ensures that pregnancy cannot delay or prevent a court from granting a divorce (dissolution of marriage) or legal separation. It explicitly states that a court must proceed with the judgment regardless of whether one party is pregnant, removing pregnancy as a barrier to these proceedings. The bill affects individuals seeking divorce or legal separation who are pregnant, requiring courts to follow standard residency and procedural requirements without considering pregnancy status. This change applies to all divorce or separation cases, maintaining existing rules about residency, custody, and property division while clarifying that pregnancy alone does not block finalization.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
May 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Dec 2, 2024 Last action May 14, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

House Committee Substitute Perfected · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was marked as 'Perfected' instead of 'House Committee Substitute', indicating it has passed committee review and is ready for final passage. The Chief Clerk's designation changed from 'H' to 'P', reflecting this procedural status change. No substantive policy changes were made to the bill's content.
TECHNICAL

Bill status changed from 'House Committee Substitute' to 'Perfected', indicating procedural advancement in the legislative process

Chief Clerk designation changed from '1034H.02C' to '1034H.02P', reflecting the bill's perfected status

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
28
Key actions
9
Committee
10
May 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported Do Pass (S)
upper
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
Voted Do Pass (S)
upper
Mar 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Public Hearing Scheduled (S) - Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 8:00 a.m., Senate Committee Room 1 - 1st Floor
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
Second read and referred: Families, Seniors and Health(S)
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Third Read and Passed (H) - AYES: 155 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
HCS Adopted (H)
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 7 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Voted Do Pass (H)
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
Referred: Rules - Administrative(H)
lower
Feb 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
HCS Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 14 NOES: 0 PRESENT: 0
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
HCS Voted Do Pass (H)
lower
Jan 16, 2025
Committee
Referred: Children and Families(H)
lower
Dec 2, 2024
Introduced
Prefiled (H)
lower
1 primary · 27 co-sponsors

Sponsors