Shall we create a ‘wedlease’?

Paul Rampell is a well known lawyer in Palm Beach, Florida. In the local newspaper, the Journal Star, a few days ago, Mr. Rampell wrote an article about the deficiencies in the legal structure of marriage.

He argued that the divorce rate continues so high, without any effort to improve the structure. So he suggests borrowing from real estate law, and creating a “wedlease.”

Citing the common practice of holding property for a time shorter than a lifetime through a lease, Mr. Rampell proposes people be permitted to commit themselves to a marriage of a chosen duration, perhaps two or five years. The lease can be renewable. At the end of the lease term, a couple could decide to go their own ways without the stress of a divorce.

It’s an interesting concept, but it seems at first glance a lot like a pre-nuptial agreement except with a wedlease a finite period is chosen, with an option to renew. In a pre-nuptial agreement, no duration is known, so the length of time of the agreement is unknown.

Presumably, there could be some interest in this. There might even be something similar in concept for Estate planning. Suffice it to say it’s worth thinking about in these warm days of August.

This ad ran in the Richmond News on August 9, 2013.