We don’t usually write about international stories on this blog, but this family law story is so interesting that we believe it is worth presenting to the blogosphere.
We all know that the divorce rate is about 50 percent. But still, when we attend a wedding or say “I do” ourselves, we do so with the idea that a marriage is a promise of forever. But what if marriage wasn’t a forever promise and couples agreed to that from the beginning? What if they were to promise, for example, “Until two years from now do us part?”
That’s what a bill in Mexico City proposes to offer couples wanting to make their unions official.
Some states have become more progressive in their laws regarding families. By recognizing same-sex civil unions, New Jersey is one of them. It is taking a lot of time for the U.S. to widely change the tradition of marriage. Most wouldn’t assume that anyplace in Mexico would be more progressive with regards to family law and divorce.
It is well-known that Mexico as a country is largely rooted in Catholicism. In Mexico City, however, lawmakers and the community have strayed away from some of the stricter traditions of the Church. In 2009, the capital legalized same-sex marriage. Abortion is also legal in the city. Now, some lawmakers in Mexico City propose that temporary marriage licenses be available for couples.
If the proposed bill were to become law, it would mean that a marriage license could last as short as two years. When getting the temporary license, couples would agree at that time about how family law issues would be handled in case they decide at the two-year point that they no longer want to be married. When the two years pass, the couple could then decide whether the marriage is still what they want. If they decide they don’t want to be married, the temporary license would allow them to dissolve the union without going through a traditional divorce process.
Of course, there is debate surrounding this family law proposal, much of which comes from the Catholic Church. Sources report that a vote on the proposal will occur later this year, and we will post an update when there are developments in the matter.
Source
Reuters: “‘Til 2013 do us part? Mexico mulls 2-year marriage,” Alex Leff, Sep. 29, 2011