Marriage of Limited Duration

I have long advocated marriages of limited duration with an option to renew. This seemed farfetched to most people but Mexico is actually considering it. A recent article from Reuters by Alex Leff says, “Mexico City lawmakers want to help newlyweds avoid the hassle of divorce by giving them an easy exit strategy: temporary marriage licenses. The proposed a reform to the civil code would allow couples to decide on the length of their commitment, opting out of a lifetime. The minimum marriage contract would be for two years and could be renewed if the couple stays happy. The contracts would include provisions on how children and property would be handled if the couple splits."You wouldn't have to go through the tortuous process of divorce. http://tiny.cc/CDM122311 The church criticized the proposed change. This reform is absurd. It contradicts the nature of marriage," said Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Mexican archdiocese.”

This would not put Divorce Mediators out of business. Many of us also do Marital Mediation which in the case of a marriage of limited duration could be used to help the marriage or problem solve the renewal of the marriage.

Under this law we would not only have quickie Mexican divorces but quicke Mexican marriages.

In contrast to this Malta held a divorce referendum in May to consult the electorate on the introduction of divorce which resulted in a majority of the voters approving legalization of divorce. This will be the subject of a future blog.

I don’t think this is a bad idea. The person you marry is not always the same person you divorce. People and circumstances change and this would avoid the agonies of divorce. It may also actually make the people work harder on the marriage because otherwise there will not be a marriage.

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