I actually talked with Jeff about divorce statistics waiting for court the last time. Apparently the statistic for first marriages failing is pretty close to the overall divorce rate. The impact of so called serial divorce is washed out by the extremely high success rate of second marriages (more than 80% go the distance). I will ask him if anyone tracks the number of people who have at least one divorce. We need something to pass the time waiting for judges, and I pay him quite well to make small talk. I'll be someone's friend for his hourly rate. Even with the professional courtesy rate I get for having a federal judge as my maternal uncle (not the asshole).
In response to your other comment: What's your opinion about marriage as a legal institution now? I wanted to reply ten minutes after you posted it but I had company come over. As far as not having a legal contract marriage I think that there is no reason why a religious marriage would not be recognized internationally. The issue I worry about would be benefits, but I think they should be opened up to domestic partners or whatever you want to call them anyway. It's bias against people who choose not to marry. I also think that people who don't marry their partner to keep some kind of benefit (like alimony from a previous marriage contingent on not remarrying). You shouldn't get the best of both worlds in my book.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-10-29 12:05 pm (UTC)In response to your other comment: What's your opinion about marriage as a legal institution now? I wanted to reply ten minutes after you posted it but I had company come over.
As far as not having a legal contract marriage I think that there is no reason why a religious marriage would not be recognized internationally. The issue I worry about would be benefits, but I think they should be opened up to domestic partners or whatever you want to call them anyway. It's bias against people who choose not to marry. I also think that people who don't marry their partner to keep some kind of benefit (like alimony from a previous marriage contingent on not remarrying). You shouldn't get the best of both worlds in my book.