Two-year marriage licenses may be issued in Mexico City

September 30, 2011

To have and to hold - for at least two years. Image: Flickr / firemedic58 / CC-BY-SA
To have and to hold - for at least two years. Image: Flickr / firemedic58 / CC-BY-SA

Mexico City is often considered one of the most liberal areas in generally conservative Mexico. Now, Mexico City lawmakers are proposing two-year marriage licenses as a way to cut down on clogged courts and messy divorces.

Marriage in Mexico

In Mexico, more than 50 percent of all marriages end in a divorce, most within the first two years. Divorce in Mexico varies according to state and jurisdiction, but generally a court proceeding must be carried out in order to dissolve the marriage. Marriage in Mexico is recognized only civilly, and religious ceremonies carry no weight, legally.

The proposal of two-year marriage licenses

The City Assembly of Mexico City has proposed a new type of marriage license. The license would be valid for only two years and would contain within the marriage license the outlines of how the marriage would be dissolved at the end of two years if the parties agree to end the marriage. In essence, all marriage licenses within Mexico City would contain a built-in prenuptial agreement. Parties to the marriage would be able to determine the length of the commitment, but the minimum length would be two years. At the end of that time period, the couple would be able to extend the license for whatever length they desire.

Pushback on two-year marriage licenses

Conservative groups within both Mexico city and Mexico have lambasted this suggestion of a two-year marriage license. Many conservative groups are still stinging from Mexico City’s move to legalize same-sex unions, which is still very controversial within the largely Roman Catholic country.

Historical tradition of starter marriage

The commitment of marriage has not always been an in-perpetuity legal commitment. In historical Europe, the tradition of handfasting was one that established “starter marriages” of the type that Mexico City is proposing. Handfasting would, depending on the historical period, create a one-year commitment that both parties could walk away from at the end of that year or year and a day.

Sources

The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/til-2013-do-us-part-mexico-mulls-2-year-marriages-draws-ire-of-church/article2185712/print/
Buenos Aires Herald: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/80261/til-2013-do-us-part-mexico-mulls-2year-marriage
MexicoLaw.com: http://www.mexicolaw.com/Marriage%20in%20Mexico.htm
Unicef: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mexico_statistics.html

Post By bryanh (1,397 Posts)

Connect

Do you have a fantastic idea related to this article, but just don't have the money you need to start your own company or side-business? Get the loans you need from https://personalmoneynetwork.com to help get your new company underway, from the small loan professionals at PersonalMoneyNetwork.

PG&E to pay $70 million for pipeline tragedy

Pacific Gas and Electric was responsible for a pipeline explosion that killed eight in 2010. Image: juggernautco/Flickr/CC BY

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a northern California utility, has agreed to pay $70 million to the California town of San Bruno for a pipeline explosion that killed eight people in 2010. Company says it’s remorseful The San Francisco-based power company’s president, Chris Johns, released a statement Monday, saying PG&E is sorry and eager to [...]

Judge stabbed and deputy shot in Washington courthouse

Grays Harbor County Courthouse. Image: MiK/Flickr/CC BY-SA

Following a standoff in a Washington state county courtroom Friday, a man reportedly escaped after shooting a sheriff’s deputy in the shoulder and stabbing a judge in the neck. The man is still at large. Treachery among the tree farms The incident occurred Friday afternoon in the western Washington town of Montesano, which bills itself [...]

Microraptor was one flashy little dinosaur

This Microraptor fossil is preserved at China's Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature. Image: Hello, I am Bruce/Flickr/CC BY-SA

A team of Chinese and American scientists have found that Microraptor, a small four winged dinosaur that went extinct about 130 million years ago, was likely black and almost certainly had glossy, iridescent feathers. Until now, the coloring of extinct creatures was a matter of pure speculation. That may no longer be the case. The [...]

Autocorrected message leads to school lockdown

The Gainesville, Ga. Homage to the Sun presides over anotehr day as a piotential tragedy turns out to be a mistake. Image" Olaf/Flickr/CC BY-SA

Adjacent schools in Georgia were locked down for two hours Wednesday after a text message reportedly warned of a “gunman” on campus. Later, it was learned that the message was the result of a smartphone autocorrect function, attempting to “fix” the misspelled slang word “gunna.” A series of mixups A series of mixups led to [...]

Recent Posts by

Coca-Cola has begun to use a different kind of caramel color to avoid a cancer label. (Photo Credit: Public Domain/Cane cane/Wikipedia)