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Treating Marriage Like a Car Lease?

A few weeks ago we wrote about a guest column appearing in the Washington Post calling for the creation of “wedleases”–temporary marriages that come with expiration dates.

Proponents liken it to leasing a vehicle. To borrow from Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, “the analogy works great if you picture yourself as the driver. It stinks if you picture yourself as the car.”

No one wants to think of themselves as “leased” by someone else. But a news outlet in Memphis picked up the wedlease concept this week and featured a story on the subject, writing:

“The state of Tennessee has defined marriage as a contract between a man and a woman, and everything you read in the state statutes refers to marriage as a contract,” said family law attorney Lee-Ann Dobson.

Dobson has seen many Mid-South marriages end up in divorce court for all kinds of reasons. So, since marriage is already a contract, redefine or clearly define the terms? After two or three years, the parties could terminate or renew the contract, just like an apartment lease.

We’ve said it before: Wedleases treat people like property; they attempt the impossible task of “trying” commitment; the breakup is unlikely to be “mutual” when the lease expires; and they fail to fully take into consideration the welfare of children.

If marriages are failing, the solution isn’t to make marriage easier to dissolve. The solution is to help those failing marriages succeed.

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