What would you do ?

Question

If you have the power and position, what would you do to improve the quality of marriage, and to reduce the divorce rate in the US from 60% to 10% ?

Answer 1

Anyone wanting to get married would be required to do the following:

Take a lie detector test to confirm whether they had ever cheated on their partner, commited any sort of abuse, had sexual thoughts of children, or abused alcohol.(and the results shown to their fiance)

Take a hair sample drug test..(and the results shown to their fiance)

Attend 3 weeks of premarital counciling.(With a written test at the end - and any score less than 80% and no marriage license would be issued)

Pay $1500.00 deposit for marriage license with a pro rated return of $100 per year for 15 years. And a divorce would make them forfeit any remaining balance(The married couple could use the $100/year to celebrate on their anniversary)

Each would be required to provide three personal references(no family members) to their prospective spouses that could be checked.

Each would required to provide the other with a list of good and bad qualities from their families point of view. (Groom - he snores, bites his nails, and doesn't pick up his clothes, but he likes to cook, manages money well, and doesn't sleep around. Bride - She takes forever fixing her hair, hogs the bathroom, and has a hard time getting up, but she is thrifty, has always been faithful, and couldn't lie even as a child)

And last but not least: Husband and wife would be required to renew their wedding vows on a yearly basis in front of a licensed minister or county clerk or would face one day of public service work.

Answer 2

I would have a couple sign an engagement agreement and have them sign off on at least a one year courtship before they could get married which would include couples counseling once a week, 6 months prior to the marriage, and then after the marriage, there would have to be a waiting period of at least 6 months, if one of the two decided to divorce, and then they would have to get marriage counseling, once a week for 6 months after filing for the divorce. After that if they (both)decided that it was for the best, if I were a Judge I would ok it. If more couples knew this was all part of a marriage, there would be alot less quickie marriages, and alot fewer divorces, and not so much child custody cases &, physical and mental cruelty cases, domestic violence cases,and fewer women on welfare etc.,and not as many of them would be so quick to run to the altar.

Answer 3

Awesome question....
Here's what I'd do:

1) No one would be allowed to get married until they have 24 months of relationship, communication, and spiritual counseling.
2) No one would be allowed to have kids until they are established financially and have been married for 3 years.
3) Adultery would be an offense punishable by 5 years imprisonment. (I mean, just tell the truth before you do something)
4) Divorce would not be an option unless there was verbal, sexual, or physical abuse.
5) Every couple would be required to have a marriage 'tune up' twice a year.


I have several more ideas but that's all for now.

Answer 4

Hmm and I am sure that you want honest answers here... lets not be politically correct here. I think that if we were able to screw other people while still being married, there would be no cheating. That is one of the biggest reasons for the divorce rate. That is the only thing I would change, a relationship is great but hey we need variety too!!!!!!

Answer 5

Encourage a family time away from work.

Put a penalty on divorce.....higher for the early years....lower in the later years. Young people don't put in the effort that is needed. A really high penalty if kids are involved.

Make grocery food lest costly and restaurant food higher. Keep people in the home around a dinner table.

Answer 6

Divorce has many causes, they come under abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial stress as well as growing apart. You can not legislate love , nor can you eradicate stress. If everyone were rich and didnt have to worry about work or money the divorce rate would go down, but people would still fall out of love. There would still be selfish people who make their spouses miserable.

Answer 7

bring back the fault divorce

once they initiated the no fault divorce then all hell broke loose and it became that much easier to get rid of that anoying spose that seems to not match the couch and is not color coordinated with the color of the frontroom

if you bring back the fault divorce and let it be known that the courts will hold the guilty party responsible for the divorce, then maybe people will start thinking twice about it

for instance,if a man abuses a woman, she just leaves and thats it
now if a man abuses a woman, there is jail time, on top of that there would be alimony and penalties
once the guy figures out that he will be working the rest of his life for free just to give his money to his ex wife because he abused her, maybe he will think twice about abusing her

cheaters, open to paying alimony and their lovers are open to potentialy destructive lawsuits for alienation of affection
tell me, how many men would be willing to step out of their marriage if they knew that if they got caught they would be broke forever, and how many women would be willing to hunt down married men if they knew that the wife could sue them to death
not alot i think

bring back the fault divorce, let the parties prove who is guilty and let the guilty be punished, thats it, lots of people would be more inclined to think about what the hell they are doing and actually work on their marriage instead of only thinking about themselves

but thats just my idea

Answer 8

require a couple marriage classes so people would think about it a little more serious

or maybe make people pay a fine/or fees for paper work to divorcing for silly reasons and tell them to reconsider and try to work it out
If you can not tell I'm against divorce one reason i think is vaild for a divorce is abuse other than that people should try to work it out.

Answer 9

cut the amount of marriage licenses issued by 90% .... dont let as many people get married...... or how about making people pay lawyers a mandatory fee of $100,000 each for getting divorced, on top of the normal lawyers fees

Answer 10

bring back fault divorce. adultry for one. battery, etc.
but let's face it not many people even get married any more. there was someone on tonight that said if you don't have joint bank accounts why get married. pathetic!!!
illegimate children are the way to go these days! it's the thing to do. it's popular.
stop rewarding bad behavior and worse morals!!!