Yeah, But can it be revoked ?

[Prince Loeffler]

I wonder what kind of test one has to go thru to renew... :)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070921/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_politics_marriage

[jdostie]

Under such an arrangement, it seems like a prenuptial agreement would become a requirement. Particularly sticky is the question of child support. Surely paternal responsibilities would not expire after seven years.

And spousal support? If you know it's going to expire, should spousal support be considered? What if one supported the other through college?

And, of course, it fundamentally changes the definition of marriage - sure we (as a society) terminate our marriages (in voilation of the vows), but that's bad enough. If it's not even the plan for the marriage to continue, then is it truly a marriage?

[mews]

well, didn't the old Irish law (breton law sp??) have year-and-a-day marriage, as well as permanent forms??

I think that is what a lot of people are doing who live together before marriage these days - best find out if your intended has stinky feet, or designs on your credit cards, before making it long-term ...

mew

[niten ninja]

And, of course, it fundamentally changes the definition of marriage - sure we (as a society) terminate our marriages (in voilation of the vows), but that's bad enough. If it's not even the plan for the marriage to continue, then is it truly a marriage?

What is the fundamental definition of marriage? In the past it's often been the basis for socio-political alliances between families and the transfer of property rights, does that mean many modern marriages aren't marriages? On the actual article, I can see what her point is, but it seems to be a bit clumsy a solution.

[Trevor Johnson]

well, didn't the old Irish law (breton law sp??) have year-and-a-day marriage, as well as permanent forms??

I think that is what a lot of people are doing who live together before marriage these days - best find out if your intended has stinky feet, or designs on your credit cards, before making it long-term ...

mew

I think part of that was for fertility reasons. The point of marriage was often the whole children thing, and if you and your partner were infertile together, the marriage was dissolvable after a suitable period of trying. Of course, this wasn't always the case, particularly in the case of egregiously problematic people like Henry VIII, but in the case of rural farmers, it worked.

[mews]

Ole Henry wasn't Irish. In fact, the English of the period despised the Brehon law, and tried to eliminate it in the areas of Ireland they controlled. :::cough::: dunno who'd be more upset at calling him Irish... the English or the Irish :D

Anyway - Infertility and adultery were grounds for divorce under brehon law, but there were others.

according to what I have read since, there were multiple types of marriage, depending on whose property was involved - it sounds very much like "marriage by contract"