S.B. No. 815

	AN ACT
	relating to a temporary restraining order for preservation of
	property and protection of the parties in a suit for the dissolution
	of marriage.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 6.501(a), Family Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  After the filing of a suit for dissolution of a
	marriage, on the motion of a party or on the court's own motion, the
	court may grant a temporary restraining order without notice to the
	adverse party for the preservation of the property and for the
	protection of the parties as necessary, including an order
	prohibiting one or both parties from:
	(1)  intentionally communicating in person or in any
	other manner, including by telephone or another electronic voice
	transmission, video chat, [or] in writing, or electronic messaging,
	with the other party by use of vulgar, profane, obscene, or indecent
	language or in a coarse or offensive manner, with intent to annoy or
	alarm the other party;
	(2)  threatening the other party in person or in any
	other manner, including by telephone or another electronic voice
	transmission, video chat, [or] in writing, or electronic messaging,
	to take unlawful action against any person, intending by this
	action to annoy or alarm the other party;
	(3)  placing a telephone call, anonymously, at an
	unreasonable hour, in an offensive and repetitious manner, or
	without a legitimate purpose of communication with the intent to
	annoy or alarm the other party;
	(4)  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing
	bodily injury to the other party or to a child of either party;
	(5)  threatening the other party or a child of either
	party with imminent bodily injury;
	(6)  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly
	destroying, removing, concealing, encumbering, transferring, or
	otherwise harming or reducing the value of the property of the
	parties or either party with intent to obstruct the authority of the
	court to order a division of the estate of the parties in a manner
	that the court deems just and right, having due regard for the
	rights of each party and any children of the marriage;
	(7)  intentionally falsifying a writing or record,
	including an electronic record, relating to the property of either
	party;
	(8)  intentionally misrepresenting or refusing to
	disclose to the other party or to the court, on proper request, the
	existence, amount, or location of any tangible or intellectual
	property of the parties or either party, including electronically
	stored or recorded information;
	(9)  intentionally or knowingly damaging or destroying
	the tangible or intellectual property of the parties or either
	party, including electronically stored or recorded information;
	[or]
	(10)  intentionally or knowingly tampering with the
	tangible or intellectual property of the parties or either party,
	including electronically stored or recorded information, and
	causing pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the other
	party;
	(11)  except as specifically authorized by the court:
	(A)  selling, transferring, assigning,
	mortgaging, encumbering, or in any other manner alienating any of
	the property of the parties or either party, regardless of whether
	the property is:
	(i)  personal property, real property, or
	intellectual property; or
	(ii)  separate or community property;
	(B)  incurring any debt, other than legal expenses
	in connection with the suit for dissolution of marriage;
	(C)  withdrawing money from any checking or
	savings account in a financial institution for any purpose;
	(D)  spending any money in either party's
	possession or subject to either party's control for any purpose;
	(E)  withdrawing or borrowing money in any manner
	for any purpose from a retirement, profit sharing, pension, death,
	or other employee benefit plan, employee savings plan, individual
	retirement account, or Keogh account of either party; or
	(F)  withdrawing or borrowing in any manner all or
	any part of the cash surrender value of a life insurance policy on
	the life of either party or a child of the parties;
	(12)  entering any safe deposit box in the name of or
	subject to the control of the parties or either party, whether
	individually or jointly with others;
	(13)  changing or in any manner altering the
	beneficiary designation on any life insurance policy on the life of
	either party or a child of the parties;
	(14)  canceling, altering, failing to renew or pay
	premiums on, or in any manner affecting the level of coverage that
	existed at the time the suit was filed of, any life, casualty,
	automobile, or health insurance policy insuring the parties'
	property or persons, including a child of the parties;
	(15)  opening or diverting mail or e-mail or any other
	electronic communication addressed to the other party;
	(16)  signing or endorsing the other party's name on any
	negotiable instrument, check, or draft, including a tax refund,
	insurance payment, and dividend, or attempting to negotiate any
	negotiable instrument payable to the other party without the
	personal signature of the other party;
	(17)  taking any action to terminate or limit credit or
	charge credit cards in the name of the other party;
	(18)  discontinuing or reducing the withholding for
	federal income taxes from either party's wages or salary;
	(19)  destroying, disposing of, or altering any
	financial records of the parties, including a canceled check,
	deposit slip, and other records from a financial institution, a
	record of credit purchases or cash advances, a tax return, and a
	financial statement;
	(20)  destroying, disposing of, or altering any e-mail,
	text message, video message, or chat message or other electronic
	data or electronically stored information relevant to the subject
	matter of the suit for dissolution of marriage, regardless of
	whether the information is stored on a hard drive, in a removable
	storage device, in cloud storage, or in another electronic storage
	medium;
	(21)  modifying, changing, or altering the native
	format or metadata of any electronic data or electronically stored
	information relevant to the subject matter of the suit for
	dissolution of marriage, regardless of whether the information is
	stored on a hard drive, in a removable storage device, in cloud
	storage, or in another electronic storage medium;
	(22)  deleting any data or content from any social
	network profile used or created by either party or a child of the
	parties;
	(23)  using any password or personal identification
	number to gain access to the other party's e-mail account, bank
	account, social media account, or any other electronic account;
	(24)  terminating or in any manner affecting the
	service of water, electricity, gas, telephone, cable television, or
	any other contractual service, including security, pest control,
	landscaping, or yard maintenance at the residence of either party,
	or in any manner attempting to withdraw any deposit paid in
	connection with any of those services;
	(25)  excluding the other party from the use and
	enjoyment of a specifically identified residence of the other
	party; or
	(26)  entering, operating, or exercising control over a
	motor vehicle in the possession of the other party.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to a suit for dissolution of marriage that is filed on or after the
	effective date of this Act. A suit for dissolution of marriage
	filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
	in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 815 passed the Senate on
	April 9, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 815 passed the House on
	May 5, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, two present
	not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor