The Mexico City Assembly is considering a measure which would enable marrying couples to specify a fixed, finite duration for the marriage contract.
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 assemblyman who co-authored the bill.
I wonder if they considered the various other margins along which to move to an interior solution. We could be married forever but only on Thursdays. Or if you are not yet ready to marry my I can still incentivize you to invest in me by writing you an option to marry me in the future. Or I can go public, issuing matrimony shares. My commitment to you is proportional to your ownership stake.
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October 6, 2011 at 5:14 am
Alex Flint
Is this post intended to ridicule the Mexican marriage contract? The original idea seemed reasonable enough to me…
October 6, 2011 at 9:07 am
Amanda Pingel
I was thinking the same thing. His post seems sarcastic, but I think the two-year option and the option-option are both good ideas.
October 6, 2011 at 7:07 am
Tobias
Apparently, there are contractual arrangements in Sharia law that relax traditional marriage along some of these margins:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikah_Misyar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikah_mut%E2%80%98ah
(via Ole Rogeberg here)
October 6, 2011 at 11:30 am
AKarpiej
I thought the somewhat sarcastic commentary was an attempt to incite further innovation…..