Are there people who still worry that legalizing gay marriage will somehow "weaken traditional marriage"? I don't know why. We seem to be doing a capable job of that all by ourselves:
In real estate, one may own a life estate in a piece of property. This is comparable to the term of a marriage — a lifetime. And in real estate, one may hold possession of property for shorter terms through a lease.
Why don’t we borrow from real estate and create a marital lease? Instead of wedlock, a “wedlease.”
Here’s how a marital lease could work: Two people commit themselves to marriage for a period of years — one year, five years, 10 years, whatever term suits them. The marital lease could be renewed at the end of the term however many times a couple likes. It could end up lasting a lifetime if the relationship is good and worth continuing. But if the relationship is bad, the couple could go their separate ways at the end of the term. The messiness of divorce is avoided and the end can be as simple as vacating a rental unit.
A marital lease could describe the property of the spouses in detail, so separate ownership is clear. If a couple wishes to buy something together, or share ownership, they can keep a schedule of these items and decide as they go along how these would be disposed of in the event of a partner’s death or if they do not renew their wedlease. Landlords and tenants have proved the effectiveness of making clear their separate property and its disposition at the end of property leases.
Oh, brother. Marriage is supposed to be a lifetime commitment and once was for the vast majority. If only half the couples today still regard it as such, why would anybody worry about honoring the terms of a lease, for goodness sake? Goodbye, seven-year itch, hello a whole new raft of wedlease attorneys to go along with the divorce ones.
