Resolved: The United States should offer Temporary Marriages

I trust this debate will be rewarding for the both of us. Even though the 50% statistic provided by my opponent is more likely correct than not, I believe that temporary marriage would not have the positive repercussions he expects. In fact there is a higher chance of negative results. I will begin my portion of this round by addressing my opponents assertions about the financial and emotional superiority of temporary marriage. I will then follow up by offering my argument. Financial:"The average cost of a divorce can range from $15k to $30k (1). Given that people are often encouraged to treat divorce as a punishment, hiring a blood-thirsty lawyer to rob the other party, divorced couples are often worse off than if they had never married (2). ""Since the marriage ends automatically, there is no need to involve the courts (except to formally acknowledge the disolution of the marriage), and no need to hire lawyers. Such options currently exist with "divorce kits" that cost a mere $25 to $70 dollars and are ideal when there is nothing to dispute and there are no children (4). These temporary marriages would operate similarly. Since the end of the marriage is known to both parties, the odds that there will be a dispute are reduced. "My opponent's numbers are once again correct, however there are several flaws in his reasoning. First he mentions divorce kits (which are a very valid option) but he fails to mention prenuptial agreements. The cost of these is much less than that of divorce, on average $2,500 - $7,000 for detailed work and a mere $250 - $850 for a simple contract(1). A prenuptial agreement would in fact be more effective because it can dictate everything from ownership of items to specific responsibilities of spouses whereas temporary marriage only covers a set end date. The statement that that divorce is often treated as punishment is true, but misses the fact that it is often punishment for what occurred during the marriage. This fact wont change just because the marriage is temporary. The spouse can find numerous other way to exact revenge financially and otherwise. Realistically it would still be possible to enter litigation to argue the terms and outcomes of the temporary marriage. I would like to reiterate that there is no evidence to show that even if both parties know that the marriage will end, the odds of dispute are reduced. This is just and assumption. Emotional: "Except in a few rare cases, divorce is an emotional event for all parties involved. Marriage is a commitment and an investement, one that fails when it ends in divorce. " Once again I have to state that there is no evidence or anything else to suggest that temporary marriage (as you have presented it) would prevent divorces. So in effect temporary marriages wouldn't provide all the benefits to negate emotional stress that you described because the threat of divorce is still present. "No good marriage has ever ended in divorce" (Louis C. K. 3) This means that even though there there is a predetermined end to the marriage the emotional stress still exists because of the obviously failing relationship. A divorce is just the climax of a relationship filled with disagreements, incompatibilities and a host of other problems. So even if the temporary marriage theoretically prevented a divorce it would only alleviate small fraction of emotional distress if any at all. My opponents contends that this plan could actually save marriages. I believe the truth to be the exact opposite. Marriage is considered to be the most serious form of relationship, in fact it is the last step of any successful relationship and an extremely serious commitment. These facts coupled with the problems of divorce force couples to think over their problems and work through their differences. If a marriage was temporary it wouldn't carry nearly the same weight as a "permanent marriage" and would not require nearly the same amount of preparation. This would result in a larger amount of hasty marriages, which in turn turn into hasty divorces. To summarize the concept of short term marriages doesn't remove the possibility of divorce. This makes any point regarding the benefits of a marriage ending with a preset date rather than divorce moot. Even if divorce was avoided the decrease of emotional stress would be insignificant as most of it comes from a bad relationship not the act of divorce itself. After rebutting Pro's points I can surmise the following:*Temporary marriage doesn't offer anything different from regular marriage other than a predetermined end date. Pro bases his argument on assumptions that a pre set end would eliminate the need for divorce. There is nothing supporting this claim. In fact there are a multitude of examples were marriages last significantly less than a year making the proposed 2 year temporary marriage irrelevant. Some examples include Dennis Hopper (marriage lasted eight days) and Mario Lopez (two weeks)(2). *The Pro assumes that the brunt of financial and emotional problems comes from the divorce. Unfortunately the majority of these problems come from the bad relationship. Whether the marriage is temporary or permanent and where it ends by contract or divorce doesn't mean there is no bad blood, hurt feeling, and evil intentions. Either party can still find ways to exact revenge and attempt financial litigation. *If anything, temporary marriages would make the commitment less serious and increase the number of divorces. If everyone knows the marriage is going to end anyway, why not just finish it now? In conclusion bad relationships are a result of differences and incompatibilities of the partners. It is not that the institution of marriage is flawed, its the relationship. In any case were temporary marriage would in fact provide an advantage, the same advantage could be provided by a prenuptial agreement. In all other situations temporary marriage would actually be worse if not the same. [1] . http://www.debate.org...[2] . http://fe1.omg.fy9.b.yahoo.com...[3]http://www.livedash.com...