The OP said the “marriage would simply end” after five years, so that’s the default unless they renew.
Maybe that’s what’s confusing some people. They think if you say “the marriage will simply end” that it means the marriage will end simply.
Getting a divorce right now is a pretty simple procedure (at least in California where I have some familiarity). The part that you need the court to do is pretty standardized, though there can be funky wrinkles. If you go in an you’ve been married a short time with no kids and no assets? Piece of cake. Kids and assets but it’s uncontested, including the custody and child support? Piece of cake. It’s a couple hundred dollars (there are waivers available if you’re low-income), and it takes a minimum of 6 months from the time of service. The actual filing times can be much shorter. You can have a divorce that’s all ready to kick in as soon as the 6 months is up.
IIRC and I’m not forgetting some step, for most people (since most divorces are uncontested):
fill out the first set of papers (the petition, plus documents that include what assets you have, what you want from the other person, anything about the kids, and where you live that makes you eligible to divorce in that county)
file the first set and pay the money to the court or get a waiver
have the other party served the first set
file proof of service
wait out the 30 days they have to respond
file the second set of papers, with lots of SASEs
get a judgment in the mail
I only has to take 6 months from beginning to end. I think with the courts as they are it generally takes longer, but you don’t have to ever see a judge or an attorney in most cases.
The only way to make this much simpler is if somehow it happens automatically at the end of the five years, but I’m not sure how that could happen without all of that filing happening at some point. Shifting it to the beginning of the marriage doesn’t seem to make anything simpler, just sooner.
Everything is simple if all parties agree on things. It is when they don’t that it gets nasty.
Which makes me wonder what happens when the parties disagree. I’d assume the marriage ends. If anyone thinks that things are simpler because you just don’t sign the renewal in order to end the marriage, they are way deluded. If I were a divorce lawyer I’d get behind this idea.
What exactly is stopping you from marrying, under a contract, with a willing partner, right now? Nothing! Y’all wanna divorce in 5? Have at it. Nothing stands in the way of you doing so, as often as it suits you, if you can continue to find willing partners!
Not one thing needs be altered, in any way, and you are fully accommodated!
A bit of a tangent from the main topic, but how would things like life insurance and other after death benefits that are paid out end up working with a marriage system with a set end date? Seems like it could lead to a lot of legal disputes.
It’s expensive only if there is serious disagreement over how to split, who raises the kids, etc. This five year marriage wouldn’t change the splitting up problems. Divorce is cheap if the partners can agree on the terms.
I honestly don’t know whether it is a good idea. I have been quite happily married for 52 years and my three kids have all been married–apparently happily–for a total of 55 years. No divorce in sight.
I guess I found life a lot easier if I wasn’t always worrying about where my next screw was coming from. Lazy, I guess.