Reform Laws and Divorce - Essay Example

of Lecturer 2 May Reform Laws and Divorce It is a known fact that marriages are usually bound by law through a written contract and when either of the party violates their marital vows, there could likely be a problem and this could lead to dissolution of the union and the result of this is that one party sues the other for divorce. If the collapse of most marriages is critically analyzed, it would be discovered that most of them are due to the fact that couples feel that they have the right to divorce if they feel they can no longer cope with the relationship. It therefore becomes apparent to reform laws on marriage and divorce as this would go a long way in dealing with the alarming increase in the rate of divorce in our world today. This paper shall argue on the causes of divorce, while pointing out to the reasons for reform laws on marriages and divorce in the process. A marriage is a standard union between two individuals that are committed to one another and they are to live for each other with the two parties developing common interest, which are economically related in some cases. In marriage, the husband and wife are expected to have a lifetime bond and the strength of this bond all depends on how they could effectively manage their relationship and it is the mismanagement of relationships that ultimately lead to divorce. It is a known fact that most of the divorce cases are filed by women and this is due to the fact that the society has made women to play second fiddle in relationships and when they feel they are no longer enjoying the relationship, they sue for divorce. According to the American Law and Economics Review, more than two-thirds of divorce cases in the United States are filed by women (Brinig & Douglas 126, Khun & John 31) A marriage would surely stand on a proper economic foundation and if the necessary things are not done, the foundation on which the marriage was built would collapse. This is to say that a marriage that the husband or the man of the house cannot meet up with the responsibility in the house in terms of matching his income with the finances at home would begin to crumble. A relationship that is marred by lack of finances or proper management of finance cannot stand and the marriage would ultimately fail. In this case, there needs to be some reform laws on the union of two people as it must be clearly stated that people that are not financially capable to start a family should not even make any attempt to get married in the first place. If this is done, divorce cases that arise as a result of the inability of the husband to cater for the financial needs of the family would never arise (Brinig & Douglas 127). There are several divorce situations that the bride accuses her husband of not being financially capable enough to cater for the family and then sues for divorce and after the hearing of the divorce, the two married parties are legally separated with the husband paying some sum of money for the upkeep of his ex-wife and if they have any issue between them, he is also responsible for the upkeep of the children. Thus, if there have been reform laws that have mandated the wife to ensure that she wants to get married to someone that would take care of the finances of herself and the issue that comes after the marriage, these cases of divorce would be to the barest minimum. Parents hold the responsibility of catering for their children and when this obligation is not fulfilled there could be some cracks in the walls in the family system and this could be the effect of an improperly planned marriage system. Divorce follows an improperly managed marriage, thus there should be some reforms law that seeks to monitor the management of marriages and this would go a long way to teach the couples the consequences of mismanaging their homes. Some of the reasons women sue for divorce is due to the financial and economical incentives they stand to gain from the dissolution of their marriage and the fact that it is the women that gain more from the socio-economic benefits of divorce; it makes them more prone to sue for divorces. Once men satisfies their women in the appropriate way, there would be no need to sue for divorce due to what they could gain financially and this would go a long way in sustaining marriages. Couples must learn to build on the successes of their marriages and build a long-lasting relationship. The role of finances in sustaining a marriage should not be put aside as it contributes to the fortification of marriages. It is necessary to consider an analogy at this point, something more like a case study. Case Study: Let’s assume that there is a 33- year-old woman named Hillary. Now, Hillary has been married for eight years and the union is blessed with two children and they lived in a rented apartment. Hillary’s home is located within a slum and their house is in a really bad state. A need then arises, the home must be put back in proper condition and the children must be properly cared for. But, Hillary is financially incompetent to live up to the responsibility as a parent. Hillary earns too little to cater for her children and with the economic inflation that has affected most commodities, her problems become aggravated. Though, Hillary’s husband and father of her children, George is alive and he has what it takes to cater for his wife and their two children. George comes home only during the weekends and he neglects his responsibilities and leaves his wife to bear this burden alone. Each time George comes home for weekend, Hillary keeps demanding that he provide for the needs of the children, but George keeps rejecting this request and when he does he leaves the family with a meager sum that would not even be enough for feeding the last child. Now, Hillary learns that if she sues for divorce, she would be able to obtain a large chunk of money from her husband and this would help her to start her own business and less dependent on anybody to cater for her children and furnish her apartment. Hillary made the right choice, she sued for divorce and she got her entitlements from her husband and her economic condition now changed. George had all the economic factors of production, but he lacked the most important one, which was to cater for his children and due to his inability to make proper use of the resources at his disposal he lost his wife and children. Hillary on her own part was faced with economic frustration but she now gained what she had lost as she moved up the economic ladder as a result of the entitlements she got from her husband. The analysis above has shown that with the proper utilization of the economic resources at one’s disposal a marriage could be made to succeed and the refusal to make good use of these tools would ultimately lead to the failure of the marriage. Though, the analysis showed clearly that the only way that Hillary could get herself out of her frustration was for her to sue for the divorce, but the fact remains that George, her husband was not conscious of the fact that there were some divorce laws that could make him pay for his negligence on his family. It is therefore pertinent to enlighten couples (husbands especially) on reform laws and the consequences they would likely face if they neglect their families. If this was done in the case of George and Hillary, there would not have been an issue of divorce in the first place. Having said all these things, the most important thing in relationships and marriages is that the parties involved must be in love with each other. No matter the problems that may arise in a marital relationship, if there is love, divorce would never be an option. Thus, the reform laws on marriage and divorce must be put in place in order to ensure that people that are getting married to each other are actually in love with each other. This would actually go a long way in reducing the high rates of divorce that is experienced in this modern age. It should also be noted that some of the problems that lead to divorce were noticed during courtship and the couple went along with the marriage, with the hope that they would settle their difference when they eventually live together as couples. Thus, the reform laws should be put in place to ensure that couples that frequently have problems during their courtship do not get married. The outcome of this is that, some cases of divorce would have been reduced as it is only couples that do not have strife and conflict amongst them that eventually get married. This is not to say that couples that do not have problems during courtship do not divorce each other, but the fact remains that it would have reduced the rate at which the couples that have problems during courtship marry themselves and eventually get divorced. However, it has been noticed that the reform law on the custody of children has reduced the rate at which couples file for divorce. Research has shown that the party that is sure of getting the custody of the children would likely file for divorce and with the joint-custody law that makes it possible for the husband and wife to have access to their children, this trend has reduced (Khun & John 31). The change in the law on the custody of the children has helped keep couples together. The reform laws on divorce should be as strict as possible as this would help reduce the rate of divorce and would discourage people that do not have cogent reason to sue for divorce. Thus, promulgating harder laws on divorce would reduce the rate at which people file for divorce as they would be discouraged by the process. Rather than file for divorce, warring couples would now begin to settle their seemingly irreconcilable difference and reach a common ground. The reform laws would also make intending couples to check their compatibility before they jump into marriage. Works Cited Brinig, Margaret; Douglas W. Allen. "These Boots Are Made for Walking: Why Most Divorce Filers are Women". American Law and Economics Review 2 (1): 126–129. 2000. Kuhn, Richard; John Guidubaldi. “Child Custody Policies and Divorce Rates in the US”. 11th Annual Conference of the Children's Rights Council. Retrieved 2011-05-02. 1997. Read More