The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1962-12-21


been personally involved o
touched by divorce, statistic
about the soaring rate of mar
riage failures are usually mean
ingless to us. However, the sta
bility of marriage affects every
citizen in both obvious anC
subtle ways. Since mentioning tn
tax dollar is one sure way of gaining
a hearing in Montana, perhaps thu
fact that in 1861, $3.50 of the tota
ADO payments in Montana, or ST.,
$1,000, was made to children OF
divorced or separated parents and tc
children whose fathers had deserted
may make US aware of one effect OF
unstable marriage upon every c1t1-
zen.
However, the tax dollar is the
least important of the effects OF
divorce upon our society. Far more
important, and infinitely more
tragic is the human misery, the
suffering, the unhapPiness that
people experience. Children are
often the real victims, and studies
show that children of broken homes
are much more likely to be prob
lem to society than those who bene-
fit from a stable family life.
Because of the concern of few
people, the last Legislature requested
the Governor to appoint committee
consisting of Representatives of the
Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic
churches and members of various
professional organizations "to study
the problems of teen-age marriages
and divorces and to develop ways
and means whereby model family
code can be drafted for the purpose
of promoting the stability of mar
riages in the State of Montana"
Dean Robert E. Sullivan of MSU's
Law School was named chairman of
the committee.
The task of drafting model fam
lily code is formidable, requiring ex-
tensive research, money, and great
deal of time. The committee had no
funds and only little more than a
year in which to work. Thus it was
possible to deal only with the most
glaring inadequacies of Montana
marriage and divorce laws. Compre-
hensive revision of existing statutes
is feasible only when some funds are
available for the necessary research.
RECOMMENDATIONS PREPARED
IN FIVE GENERAL AREAS
However, the committee, composed
of Is members, has prepared recon-
mendations in five general areas
Marriage, Divorce, Annulment, Deter
mination of Percentage and Support
of Legitimate Children, and Educa-
tion in the High School for Family
Responsibility.
The basic philosophy governing the
recommendations is summed up in
the Statement of Intent.
Marriage is the institution that
is the foundation of the family and
of society. Its stability is basic to
morality and civilization, and of
vital interest to society and the
state. The consequences of the
marriage contract are more signifi-
cant to society than those of other
contracts, and the public interest
must be taken into account always.
The seriousness of marriage makes
adequate premarital counseling and
education for family living highly
desirable, and courses thereon are
urged upon all persons contemplate
ing marriage. The impairment or
dissolution of the marriage rela-
ton generally results in injury to
the public wholly apart from the
effect upon the parties immediate
Iy concerned"
No change was recommended in f
he minimum manageable ages (18
or boys and 16 for girls), except v
hat marriage license may be issued 8
} applicants below those ages pro- a
ided that: q
1. Pregnancy exists; b
2. A meaningful marriage is pos
BILE and is not contemplated simply a