Bankrupting divorce lawyers!

Mexico City considers fixed-term marriage licences

Politicians propose bill to help newlyweds avoid pain of divorce with marriage contracts of minimum of two years

Reuters in Mexico City
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 September 2011


Wedded couples in Mexico City would be able to decide on the length of their commitment, under the plans. (Photograph: Diana Bier/Alamy)

Mexico City politicians want to help newlyweds avoid the hassle of divorce by giving them an easy exit strategy: temporary marriage licences.

Leftwing politicians in the city's assembly – who have already legalised gay marriage – proposed a reform to the civil code this week that 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.

"The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends," said Leonel Luna, the Mexico City assembly member who co-authored the bill.

"You wouldn't have to go through the tortuous process of divorce," said Luna, from the lefwing Party of the Democratic Revolution, which has the most seats in the 66-member chamber. Luna says the proposed law is gaining support and he expects a vote by the end of this year.

Around half of Mexico City marriages end in divorce, usually in the first two years. The capital, one of the world's largest cities, is much more liberal than the rest of the country, where the divorce rate is significantly lower although on the rise.

Abortion is legal in Mexico City, while the supreme court ruled this week to uphold state laws in Baja California that say life begins at conception.

Leftwing mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who angered the Catholic church when he made Mexico City the first Latin American city to legalise gay marriage in late 2009, announced this month he would soon step down to run for president.

The church criticised the proposed change. "This reform is absurd. It contradicts the nature of marriage," said Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Mexican archdiocese. "It's another one of these electoral theatrics the assembly tends to do that are irresponsible and immoral."

The church holds considerable sway in the country with the world's second largest Catholic population after Brazil.