Marriage contract

A marriage for an agreed term would encourage couples to make it work, without the shame if it doesn’t. Saying “I do” for a fixed term, not ’til death us do part.

Does anyone marry for life anymore? According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics it appears that lifelong marriages are becoming a thing of the past - 32 per cent of divorces involved separation in the first five years of marriage, and 22 per cent within five to nine years of marriage.

We have fixed-term contracts for the buying of property, cars and insurance, but there is only one contract available for marriage and it is for life. Is it time to consider introducing fixed-term marriage contracts?

The fixed-term contract is not meant to be a “quick fix” or an “easy out”. It would allow for the celebration of the renewal of vows after a five-year or ten-year term and encourage partners towards maintaining a very good relationship - in effect, it opens communication akin to a marriage performance review. Or it would allow for the marriage to be dissolved by completing an acceptable contract term, without the shame and stigma associated with the failure of marriage.

So why bother getting married at all? Because inherently we believe that we are making a commitment for life. Surely no one enters a marriage with a view to “give it a shot”. We stand in front of friends, family and even God and promise “until death us do part” and, at the time, we believe it. This only adds to the sense of failure when we can’t deliver the promise.

It’s a simple process: the standard certificate of marriage becomes a five-year contract. The marriage celebrant would continue to retain a copy for their records; forward the certificate to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and provide the marrying couple with a copy.

The marriage contract dissolves if the parties do no re-apply. This eliminates the stress of dissolving the marriage by having to reopen wounds one year later, file papers together and be issued divorce papers. The celebration is in the renewing - what better excuse for a party and family gathering?

Perhaps when a couple completes a 10-year marriage term (two five-year consecutive contracts), they could opt to undertake an “eternity” contract. Eventually future generations may only know of one type of marriage contract: fixed-term.