How To End A Marriage The Easy Way

Apparently, “Til Death Do Us Part” is soooo our parents’ generation. Lawmakers in Mexico City are hoping to issue temporary marriage licenses to help newlyweds avoid the hassle of divorce. Think of it as a Get Out Of Marriage Free card.

The proposed reform would allow couples to decide on the length of their commitment, with a minimum of two years and a maximum of a lifetime (if you’re into that sort of thing). If the couple stays happy, the contract could be renewed. Keeping in mind that some couples might want kids (apparently that’s still “in”), the contract would include provisions on how children and property would be handled if the couples splits, reports Reuters.

In Mexico City, around 50% of marriages end in divorce usually in the first two years (I guess that’s when people start discovering things like morning breath and peeing with the door wide open). “The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends,” Mexico City assembly man and bill co-author Leonel Luna told Reuters. “You wouldn’t have to go through the tortuous process of divorce.”

The capital city is already rather liberal; for example, abortion is legal, as is gay marriage, which was legalized in 2009 (the first Latin American city to do so). But, not surprisingly, the church which is quite influential given that Mexico has the world’s second largest Catholic population is criticizing the proposed marriage licenses, claiming it’s immoral and contradicts the nature of marriage.

What do you think? Are temporary marriage licenses irresponsible or innovative/brilliant?

(Photo: Jeffrey Hamilton)