Sec. 46b-53. (Formerly Sec. 46-41). Conciliation procedures; privileged communications.
Sec. 46b-53. (Formerly Sec. 46-41). Conciliation procedures; privileged communications. (a) On or after the return day of a complaint seeking the dissolution of a
marriage or a legal separation and prior to the expiration of the ninety-day period specified in section 46b-67 either spouse or the counsel for any minor children of the marriage
may submit a request for conciliation to the clerk of the court. The clerk shall forthwith
enter an order that the parties meet with a conciliator mutually acceptable to them or,
if the parties cannot agree as to a conciliator, with a conciliator named by the court. The
conciliator shall, in any case, be a clergyman, a physician, a domestic relations officer
or a person experienced in marriage counseling.
(b) Within such ninety-day period or within thirty days of the request, whichever
is later, there shall be two mandatory consultations with the conciliator by each party
to explore the possibility of reconciliation or of resolving the emotional problems which
might lead to continuing conflicts following the dissolution of the marriage. Failure of
the plaintiff or defendant to attend these consultations except for good cause shall preclude further action on the complaint until the expiration of six months from the date
of the return day; provided the court may order the termination of such stay, upon the
motion of either party and for good cause shown. Further consultations may be held
with the consent of both parties, or, if the conciliator recommends one or more additional
consultations and either one of the parties agrees, the court may order such additional
consultations.
(c) All communications during these consultations shall be absolutely privileged,
except that the conciliator shall report to the court whether or not the parties attended
the consultations.
(d) The reasonable fees of the conciliator shall be paid by one or both of the parties
as the court directs. No fee shall be charged by a domestic relations officer for such
services. If the parties are unable to pay the fees which may be charged by the conciliator,
only a domestic relations officer may be named as the conciliator.
(P.A. 73-373, S. 6; P.A. 74-169, S. 5, 18; P.A. 75-530, S. 11, 35; P.A. 78-230, S. 26, 54; P.A. 02-132, S. 80.)
History: P.A. 74-169 specified that each party must consult at least twice with conciliator; P.A. 75-530 referred to
return day of complaint rather than its date of filing, authorized domestic relations officers to serve as conciliators, added
proviso re termination of stay in proceedings and added exception re conciliators' fees; P.A. 78-230 divided section into
Subsecs. and rephrased provisions; Sec. 46-41 transferred to Sec. 46b-53 in 1979 and reference to Sec. 46-44 revised to
reflect its transfer; P.A. 02-132 amended Subsec. (b) by adding provisions re one or more additional consultations.
See Sec. 46b-10 re reconciliation attempts ordered by court in action for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or
annulment.
Cited. 23 CA 330.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 5 CA 649.