Ok...another question to stimulate debate.?

Question

If you sign a business contract....your are saying that you will honour and fullfil the obligation that you have made. If you don't, consequences are spelled out to compensate the other party hurt by you breaking the contract.

Is marriage like a contract? In a marriage, if you agree to do something and don't hold up your end of the deal...like marry and then want a divorce.....shouldn't your partner be compensated?

Would this make people think more seriously about marriage before doing it, try harder to make it work and pick better life partners?

I'd like to hear what you think.

Answer 1

I really don't want to elaborate on this too much, both out of lack of energy and this weird idea that I think people should know better. Marriage is nothing like a business. If you're suggesting people take marriage way too lightly, then I agree with you 100%. That doesn't mean that anyone should be conpensated when one person screws things up. Just doesn't work that way. Shouldn't work that way.

Answer 2

Technically a marriage is a contract. In many courts, a divorce after a short term marriage will net nothing to the divorcing spouse. That prevents the "gold diggers" from marrying a wealthy person and then taking them in a divorce action.

Long term marriages that fall apart usually have some kind of compensation to the injured party either in the form of property, spousal maintenance, retirement accounts, etc.

I think if people in general would simply go into a marriage with the idea of "forever" or as the traditional vows say "until death do us part" and stick to their guns by working on the marriage instead of using the "well, if it doesn't work out we can always get a divorce" our divorce rate would be a lot lower. Unfortunately, so many people today decide to take the "easy" way out and split up rather than hang in their, work their tails off and make their marriage work.

I've been married 20 years and can attest to the fact that it is the hardest job I've ever had, but it is also the most rewarding.

Thank you for the interesting question.

Answer 3

In a sense, it is treated like a contract....when a divorce is finalized the woman usually receives alimony (there's compensation right there).....assets are split up sometimes not equally depending on how it works out in divorce court and what attorney you end up with.

I think nowadays people view marriage as something that is fairly simple to reverse should the need arrive. People don't work hard enough to save their marriages, thus resulting in the 60% failure rate of first time marriages. I don't know if stressing compensation would necessarily change things much because usually marriage is preceeded by the emotional proposal and not much thought is given to the future and the potential of the marriage failing. I think you will always find that the bride to be will be more obsessed over the wedding cake and the dress than any sort of contract....because it's her big day blah blah blah.....

Answer 4

Well if u think it is something like a business contract then u are missing the whole point. The better question would be: What is the INTENT of the couple for even agreeing to do something in the first place? Is it out of love or is it merely to "agree" to do what it says on the contract? If it's the latter, then why even bother getting married in the first place?

And this is the PROBLEM with the concept of marriages nowadays. It's merely treated as a contract. No wonder the divorce rates are so high. It has become too convenient.

Answer 5

It seems that most people don't take marriage seriously any more. I honestly think that a lot of women are more in love with the idea of the wedding rather than the actual marriage bit. And some guys feel that they can't back down once the question is asked, so go ahead dispite misgivings about the relationship

My husband and I chose to take things a step at a time, and didn't marry till 3 years after we met. Though there have been times it would have been easier to walk away from the marriage when there were issues, neither of us are quitters.

We have learnt to make our marriage and relationship an enjoyment rather than trial. We both have obligations to each other to meet, though these obligations have changed over the years with the birth of our children, and changes in careers.

People will get married regardless of contracts etc, thinking that a marriage just happens, rather than a full time job that has it's own rewards, and it's own drawbacks.

Answer 6

I don't think you can equate a business contract with a real loving marriage. A business contract is designed to spell out the relationship between a business and an individual, or another business or trade union.
A real loving marriage is an emotional, loving, relationship between two committed people.
Yes both have expectations, and things to honor, but a business contract very rarely if ever is designed or expected to last the lifetime of the company. Marriage is, and the changes involved with two people over their lifespans dictate immense amounts of change. To the point where at the endpoint of a marriage the two involved might have changed physically and emotionally so much they are hardly recognizeable as the two that entered into the marriage generations ago. Contrast that with a contract that might be in force for 2,3,5 years or so. You get the spelled out payout, and either go your seperate ways, or renegotiate the contract for another few years.
If a marriage is prematurely dissolved (Divorce) The two involved shouldn't look at the divorce as a chance to get all they can, or even screw the other, or look for compensation. Divorce to me means failure. Failure to find a way to make a marriage work, or failure to choose the right one for me.
To me marraige is too easy to enter into in the first place. When my wife and I married, before we said I DO, we had weeks of counseling, by the minister who married us, and we had already been together for two years. You want to stop or slow down the divorce rate? Make couples EARN their marriage license. Make them show that they have already been together for a least a year. (That time frame is debateable, but come on there's got to be some time frame involved). Make them show that they really know what is involved in a marriage by sitting with a marriage counselor, and proving they know what things like love, and committment are all about. (No it doesn't have to be a clergyman, but it should be someone with some kind of training, and expertese in the field.) And make it harder to get a divorce. No fault quickie divorces are stupid. To me it means you're not really trying to solve your problems, you just want a quick way out.
Now for all those who ask what about wife beaters, That's the one place I would grant a pretty quick divorce. To me anybody who beats on a spouse doesn't deserve that spouse. Show up in court with a police record of the beating, and unless the idiot can show some kind of rock solid proof he's changed his ways, Adios!

Answer 7

It actually kind of is like that already.

What do you think alimony is in divorce? When it's proven that one side wantonly destroyed the marriage (like cheating) the other spouse can get a lump settlement and/or monthly payments out of the first.

There is also such a thing as a prenuptial agreement. It's drawn up by lawyers and signed in front of witnesses, and sometimes even notarized. If one side breaks the pre-nup, the other gets the right to the first ones assets.

I'm sure you've heard of all this before, maybe you just forgot about it :-)

Answer 8

Problem being that marriage is a partnership most usually forged out of emotions and feelings not a business arrangement. Under most circumstances I am deeply opposed to divorce (as a child of divorce), but I also know that feelings change. If I were married to a person who approached me and sincerely told me that he had fallen out of love with me and as such could no longer in good faith carry out our partnership, even though I would be hurt, what kind of a person would I be if I wanted to take punitive action against him for being honest about his lack of feelings? It's just soooo not the same thing as if an investor and partner in my business walked up to me and said, "Sorry that you'll probably lose your *** now, but I'm pulling my resources because I've simply decided I don't want to be in business with you any more because my heart's not in it." Just my two cents worth. I realize there are a lot of "takes" on this topic and no single "right" answer.

Answer 9

Marriage is a contract without exemption or any buyers regret clause. It does have an escape clause in annulment but the cost of that is steep for any kind of contract. The contract has a bidding cost that's very specific and set by the contractor rather than the contractee. The cost of drafting and ratifying the contract is unprecidented in any business and not tax deductable.

Answer 10

definetly think that marriage is a contract. And if either partner goes back on it (cheating after u swore to be faithful, divorcing when you promised to be together, etc.) the other should get compensated. If people thought about it this way they might want it to work more and decide wether they want to go back on this "contract" They might think about wether they can uphold their part of the "contract" before getting married,