Marriage Rules of the Road

If you're planning to get legally married, there is one thing you mustn't forget – the marriage license. A marriage license is sort of a permit, kind of like a driver's license. It says that you are legally allowed to marry, although obtaining one does not mean that you ARE married. My fiancé' and I obtained our Marriage License on March 23, 2010. This was a very joyful event for us. I believe this is the moment that makes it real for most couples. Up to this point the entire engagement and plans of the big days has left us in a somewhat surreal state. We walked up the clerk in the Probate Court of Cobb County, filled out a form for the license and paid $51.00 cash and that was it. I was thinking to myself "how easy was that...wow!" It was so easy I kind of started to wonder if there should be more required for such a huge commitment. It took us all of 10 minutes to obtain this license. The rules and requirements for obtaining a marriage license vary from state to state and from country to country but what my fiancé and did to obtain the Marriage License was a piece of cake. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not al all saying that we wanted to have a difficult time obtaining this Marriage License but I couldn’t help but to think about all the people that have obtained these permits under false pretenses. In a perfect world everyone would do everything in their power to ensure their partner is not already currently involved with another or indeed are who they say they are but looking at different occurrences we can see that this isn't always true. How many times have you heard about the bigamist who married again or the person that changed their name and was living a double life without their spouse knowing it? I am aware that a marriage does not have as many social ramifications as do a person that is driving on the road but ultimately a marriage gone sour can impact more that the two people that have entered into that covenant.

So allow me to entertain you with an idea. What if people were required to take a test similar to a driving test? For example, to obtain a drivers license in the United States one must be able to operate a vehicle safely and properly, understand all traffic signs and know the rules of the road. In addition, to get a driver's license, you must pass a written test, a sign test, a vision test, and a road test. There are also special regulations for people younger that 18 called graduated licensing regulations. So what if we were required to complete a course before marriage titled “What Every Married Person Must Know”. This could be a class that equates to pre-marital counseling. This would be a very helpful tool. Getting married without some sort of pre-marital prep is like entering a business or any other important venture without preparing. Some couples do not realize that that good, skill-based pre-marriage counseling or classes can reduce the risk of divorce by up to thirty percent and lead to a significantly happier marriage, according to marriage research. It can also reduce the stress of the pre-wedding period. Just a little effort now can make your odds a whole lot better over the long run. You want to do everything you can to ensure that your dreams of a great marriage and a great life are realized. (http://www.wedalert.com/content/articles/premarital_counseling.asp, pg.1, 2010) Like anything in life to be successful Marriage takes much planning, endurance, dedication, discipline and time. Having a successful marriage requires more than planning the wedding day.

In conclusion, the idea of adding “rules of the road” tests before a marriage certificate is not a perfect one but before marriage is entered detailed planning and preparation should take place. If there were more requirements for marriage maybe this would this cause more couples to think thoroughly about their unions as well as make detailed preparations not only for the wedding day for the marriage as a whole. During an engagement it should be the goal of the couple to grasp a better understanding of who their partners are. It’s true this cannot be done over night but is but maybe that is a good thing. Before a couple takes a walk down the isle they should study the true definition of Marriage study the “rules of the road, take a vision test, and understand all traffic signs.” Before taking on the commitment of marriage we should willingly take the journey to discover what is the safest and most effective means to our destinations. Although challenges will arise it is up to us to ensure we meet the requirements to safely transport the hearts of our significant others.