MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE PROCESSES WOULD GET A LOT TOUGHER UNDER PROPOSAL BY RUNNER.

Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer

Hoping to keep families together, Assemblyman George Runner has introduced legislation that would make it harder to get married and more complicated to get divorced.

Runner, R-Lancaster, the founder and executive director of Desert Christian Schools, has introduced legislation that would require divorcing couples to file parenting plans and would mandate premarital counseling or a six-month waiting period for would-be brides and grooms.

``We as a society are suffering the consequences of failed marriages, and we have children who are victims of that process,'' Runner said, pitching his bill as a double-pronged effort to keep families together.

Rodney and Kate Ellison, who were married Tuesday in Lancaster, said they attend a Christian church but don't like the idea of mandatory premarital counseling.

``I don't think it should be required, because that's an individual thing,'' Rodney Ellison said. ``I don't think I need the government to legislate for me how to do things. It infringes on my personal right.''

The thought of 15 hours of required counseling didn't go over so well with Rachel Arens of Canyon Country, who was at Cruz's Bridal on Tuesday morning checking on bridesmaid dresses for her May 10 wedding.

Arens already had sat through eight hours of counseling with her fiance so they can be married at St. Clare Catholic Church. The sessions are required for marriage in a Catholic church.

Since she's known her fiance for eight years, Arens said, the class wasn't useful to her. ``We basically went because we had to go. It was probably good for some people,'' she said.

Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino, is a member of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where Runner's bill will be heard next week. She said she hasn't seen the bill yet, but that premarital counseling isn't something the state should require.

``That's always been the position of religious authorities,'' Kuehl said. ``That's the more appropriate place for it.''

The Rev. Patrick A. Power of Our Lady of Perpetual Help said the Catholic church in Santa Clarita requires four classes, which run about two hours each; one weekend session in Santa Barbara; and a computerized test to make sure the couple aren't too far apart in their concepts of marriage and family.

He said that after the evaluation, some couples decide not to get married, and others are advised by the church to wait about six months and give it more thought.

``A lot of them, they're in love and that will take care of everything,'' Power said of many young couples who haven't thought through the gravity of marriage.

Peter Soman, a family law attorney in Santa Clarita, normally deals with marriages on the failing end. He said he likes the idea of requiring the counseling before two people enter a marriage contract.

``It's too easy to get married and it's too hard to get divorced,'' Soman said.

In north Los Angeles County, marriage licenses are issued in Lancaster at the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder's Office. To get a license, all the applicants need is $67, a driver's license or state identification and about an hour to process the request. Blood tests are no longer required.

Runner, who will celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary this year, said his bill aims to make parents realize children are victims in divorce, often leading to poor academic performance, experimentation with drugs, early sexual encounters and crime involvement.

``When there are children involved in the divorce, we believe the process needs to be slowed down and what is going to be best for the children needs to be addressed at the first of the process,'' Runner said. ``Children should not be dealt with at the same time they decide who gets the car.''

Runner seeks a 90-day ``cooling-off'' period at the beginning of a divorce process so that parents can come up with `a parenting plan. He said it wouldn't be so much a legally binding document but a way to make the couple think about the damage a divorce will do to the children.

But Soman said that would add to the hassles of a divorce by making people who already don't agree have to agree on one more thing. ``It's going to be an additional chunk of paperwork,'' he said.

Arens, a month away from her nuptials, didn't know what to make of the proposed divorce requirement.

``People don't go into marriage thinking about divorce,'' she said. ``You don't think about splitting up the kids and the dogs when you're getting married.''

Kelly Rice, who works at Cruz's Bridal, said the six-month waiting period might be pointless considering the amount of coordination it takes to plan a wedding. ``You can't even find a place to get married in six months,'' she said.

And if the bill becomes law and a couple are so madly in love that they want to skip the counseling and the six-month wait?

``They can get in their car and go to Reno,'' Runner said.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Kate Magers and Rodney Ellison of Lancaster are married Tuesday in Judge Richard Spann's office.

(2--color) The groom puts the wedding ring on his bride's finger at the end of the ceremony.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News