The Starter Marriage to become the Trial Marriage?
The Starter Marriage to become the Trial Marriage?
A colleague recently drew to my attention the recent Mexico City discussions regarding the possibility of altering its marriage laws. It seems that the mayor of Mexico City has co-authored proposed legislation that would create term-limited marriage licences. As it stands, the proposal would allow for marriages to be performed for a two year period. The mayor of Mexico city is quoted in The Guardian as saying “when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends”.
While escalating divorce rates may have been at the root of this novel concept, and there may be many commitment phobes world-wide who now see Mexico as the go-to destination for marriage, the estate litigator in me immediately thought of the potential issues.
Section 16 of the Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, C.s. 26 (the “SLRA”), provides that a will is revoked upon marriage, and allows for certain exceptions, none of which seem to apply to this circumstance. Section 17 of the SLRA deals with termination of marriage and its impact on testate succession, but specifically addresses a situation when marriage is terminated by a “judgment absolute of divorce or is declared a nullity”. It would seem to me that the Mexican legislation provides neither where the ‘married’ parties choose not to renew their vows after the two year time frame.
Under the proposed regime in Mexico, which seems to consider that this new form of marriage is simply a contract, what would happen if an Ontario couple chose to have a destination wedding in Mexico City. How is that marriage certificate registered in Ontario? Does the two-year limit apply in Ontario? Are their wills, if they have them, revoked? If they make wills during their ‘marriage’ and choose not to continue the marriage after two years, does the contact ending satisfy section 17 of the SLRA? Would the marriage be treated as a cohabitation contract? What if one of the married persons dies in the two year period, what impact does that have in terms of legal entitlement to the estate of their spouse?
This seems like it might be a recipe for significant Estate Litigation in the future, I suppose only time will tell.
Hasta Luego,
Nadia M. Harasymowycz - Click here for more information on Nadia Harasymowycz.
