Trial divorces help preserve some marriages in Shanghai
- Source: Globaltimes
- [01:27 September 30 2009]
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By Lin Jiasi
Wang Churong and his wife would have been divorced six months ago. They decided to get a trial divorce instead, and today, they are getting along just fine.
The trial divorce, a growing trend especially in cosmopolitan Shanghai, costs Wang several thousand yuan but in the end, it worked out.
"After months of therapy, I apologized to my wife," said Wang. "It would be irrational to get a divorce."
In China, a trial divorce is not recognized as a legal option such as a divorce. It is, however, similar to a temporary separation, but often involves a couple's therapy and marital counseling to help those stuck in a gray area.
According to easyday.com, a news portal based in Shanghai, a trial divorce service in the city has saved more than 1,000 marriages in the past four years.
An estimated 38 percent of all marriages in Shanghai end up in divorce.
Ming Li, chairman and consultant for a divorce company, which also provides trial divorce services, said more than 40 couples have signed up for the trials. And so far 80 percent of them have solved their differences.
"The concept of a trial divorce is different from separation that it serves as a prelude to divorce for those who want to be separated physically for a certain period of time to let them work things out with their marriage," Li explained.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers argued that troubled couples that depend on reuniting after trial divorces are being "unrealistic."
"Trial divorce cannot solve their problems even if it offers them therapy," said Ren Yuhong, partner and lawyer at Ruidao Law Firm based in Shanghai.
Ren told the Global Times that she believes marriage is a personal matter that can only be fixed between spouses without third party involvement. "A divorce is inevitable if both sides have come to a point where they vow to separate," Ren said.
Experts also said that the divorce rate has been booming in recent years due to several factors. "The idea of marriage is constantly changing and nowadays a lot of young people value marriage differently," said Ren.
"And more couples are spending less time together due to job pressures."
