Divorces can be messy, so legislators in Mexico City are considering a way to prevent them. They want to allow couples to set expiration dates on their marriages. If a couple decides not to renew, their marriage simply dissolves after as little as two years:
Link -via Dave Barry | Photo by Flickr user habi used under Creative Commons license
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.
"You wouldn't have to go through the tortuous process of divorce," said Luna, from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, which has the most seats in the 66-member chamber.
Link -via Dave Barry | Photo by Flickr user habi used under Creative Commons license
I think someone in Mexico is watching too much TV. :P
A fixed period of time for a marriage or common law arrangement would have the force of a prenuptial arrangement: no strings.
Living together before marriage is like a try before you buy, but still turns into common law without any sort of legal protection for the parties.