Comment on Anon is confused
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 days agoWow, that’s awful. Why can’t two consenting adults dissolve their union immediately? Why wait?
Comment on Anon is confused
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 days agoWow, that’s awful. Why can’t two consenting adults dissolve their union immediately? Why wait?
Dasus@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Probably because no-one in Finland would be married anymore; get drunk on the weekend and divorce on the spot.
Generally it’s just like those annoying “are you SURE you want to perform this action” prompts.
Honestly I’ve no opinion on this but as people have pointed out marriage is a financial union as well, which is what actually makes the split challenging. Although the split would be even more challenging if you weren’t married but still shared a lot of stuff.
Say for instance you’ve used only x card to pay for all furniture. While you both actually use the card, it’s in her name and now she owns everything bought with it if you’re not married, etc etc
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
In the US we solve this one of two ways, depending on the state:
Things from before marriage are usually separate, provided the parties can show they’ve kept them separate (i.e. if you got an inheritance before marriage and never shared it with the spouse).
If the divorce is amicable, then it’s generally pretty smooth, regardless of what the local law is, since you just hire a mutually agreeable arbiter to value and distribute things. It only gets complicated when parties disagree about who gets what (usually emotional attachment), and also disagree about what things should be worth.
In any case, though, waiting 6 months doesn’t make that process easier, it likely just discourages people from bothering with the divorce. Do you really want to deal with joint assets for 6 months? Who lives in the house? Who drives the cars? All of that should be settled as quickly as possible instead of sitting in limbo for half a year.
Dasus@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I think you’re underestimating what a huge process this is.
You can split up all your shit as soon as your like. When you want a divorce, you apply for it as soon as you want to, but it will only legally be confirmed after six months if you go and confirm it within six months of the end of the six-month waiting period. Ie in a year from the original date, but after 6 months.
But there’s no need for this waiting period if you’ve for instance lived in different addresses for the past two years.
This isn’t like trying to force people to stay together or make it too hard. It’s honestly because if it was that simple tons of drunk finns would get divorced on weekends.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
And I think you’re making it out to be easier that it is in the US. It’s not like you just drop by a government building and sign some papers and you’re done, you actually need to go through the effort to separate all your finances. Even a smooth divorce can take a few days, and my understanding is that you can’t file such paperwork drunk since you wouldn’t be “of sound mind” to complete the legal paperwork.
The 6 month waiting period seems to be intended to prevent divorce. Otherwise, why not just a week? Or a month to be generous? Surely that’s enough time for a drunk Finn to sober up (then again, maybe Finns have some epic benders). Send a reminder postcard or something around the time you need to confirm and you’re good. Better yet, require it to be opt out, as in you’re divorced unless you take action. I think remaining married after filing is much more surprising than being divorced.