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SALT LAKE CITY — Judges would be allowed to consider fault when awarding alimony, under a bill unanimously approved by a Senate committee Wednesday.

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, has outlined sexual intimacy with another person, severe physical or mental abuse, and a pornography addiction in SB96 as possible elements of fault, but affirms those transgressions are not limited to the husband or wife. "The issue of fault could cut either way," he said.

Under the bill, recipients of more than $1,000 of alimony monthly for a period of five years or more would be required to establish a plan of self-sufficiency. The bill would also allow courts to modify alimony if the recipient is proved to be cohabiting, rather than automatically end it.

Compared to the previous two times the bill was heard in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, the debate on the bill was limited. Bill Duncan, director of the Sutherland Institute's Center for Family and Society, said that alimony should be awarded to compensate for more than economic reasons, though Hillyard has consistently claimed that economic necessity should be the basis for awarding alimony.

"It's unjust for someone who's been betrayed by a spouse to have to pay that spouse," Duncan said.

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, voiced his support of the bill. "I particularly like that you haven't taken discretion from the judge," he said.

The bill now moves to the Senate for its consideration.

E-mail: averzello@desnews.com

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