The FINANCIAL — According to the statistics of Tbilisi City Court, there were 3,757 divorce cases in Georgia this year.
This number may be increased by the end of the year. Last year, 4,721 divorce cases were filed in the country and 4,030 divorces were filed in 2009. In Georgia the number of divorces has nearly doubled in the last ten years. Lawyers recommend people to make marriage agreements to avoid future problems.
Mostly, the age of people getting divorced in Georgia is under 20 years old.
To compare this statistic to marriage data, the divorce rate is less than the marriage rate. In 2011, 18, 836 couples got married and 34,452 couples got married last year. Mainly people between the ages of 20 and 25 years old get married in Georgia. The second largest number of married couples is those of 25-30 years old people.
This is an official statistic but specialists say that the real number of divorces is much higher. The reason is that most of separated couples don’t officially register their divorces. Only legally registered divorces are included in statistical data.
The grounds for divorce in Georgia are based on everyday problems, adultery and young marriages. Lawyers say these are the cases mostly registered in the courts. Another reason can be desertion. A divorce may be granted on the basis that a person has deserted his or her spouse willfully for at least one year. Other grounds include mental or physical abuse, marriage between persons who are too closely related, mental incapacity at the time of marriage, impotency at the time of marriage, force or fraud in obtaining the marriage license, pregnancy of the wife unknown to the husband at the time of the marriage, conviction and imprisonment for certain crimes, habitual intoxication or drug addiction and mental illness.
Age at marriage for those who divorce in America:
Age Women Men
Under 20 years old 27.6% 11.7%
20 to 24 years old 36.6% 38.8%
25 to 29 years old 16.4% 22.3%
30 to 34 years old 8.5% 11.6%
35 to 39 years old 5.1% 6.5%
Divorce is the legal breakup of a marriage. Marriage agreements can make this process easier as an agreement can be formed between the couple before or after the wedding.
In Georgia only 11 couples have formed marriage contracts this year. As notary Nino Khopheria said, the number has been increased significantly compared to last year. During her work experience, which consists of 13 years, she has registered only 6 marriage contracts. “This is a western tradition, not a Georgian one. Maybe that’s why Georgians aren’t interested in forming the agreement. Also, no one wants to think about divorce problems in their newly wedded time. Typically, a marriage agreement describes who will be responsible for managing and owning assets and debts during the marriage and how those financial issues will be handled if the marriage breaks up. The couple can always change or cancel their marriage agreement,” said Khopheria.
“Why should I think about divorce when I’m getting married? This is nonsense, in my opinion. Thinking about a marriage agreement before my wedding will bring me misfortune,” said Lali Gotsiridze, who has her wedding in 2 weeks. Her fiancé also refuses to consider a marriage contract.
Mari Kekelidze has 2 children from her first marriage. Her fiancé also has children from his first marriage. As Mari’s marriage wasn’t registered officially, she didn’t make a marriage agreement with her first husband.
“Today every second marriages ends in a divorce. Of course, I’m not oriented on divorce and it isn’t my wish to get divorced in the future. I plan to live with my husband forever, but I would still prefer to have guarantees for not only me, but my children too. Also, it’ll be good for my husband’s children,” said Kekelidze Mari.
At least 5 pages of script of a marriage agreement is a legal contract which summarizes each person’s obligations to the other. The largest wedding contract has 21 legal articles and costs 60 GEL.
The number of legal articles and the price of the agreement is determined by the property, which will be recorded in the contract. The most expensive marriage agreement costs 10,000 GEL.
Before the wedding, the couple should think not only about property issues but also how to take care of their children.
Fewer marriages, more divorces in the EU
The number of marriages that took place in the EU in 2007 was 2.4 million, while around 1.2 million divorces were recorded in the same year, according to the official statistics of the European Commission. The crude marriage rate, in other words the number of marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, was 4.9 and the crude divorce rate was 2.1.
The crude marriage rate in the EU decreased from 7.9 per 1 000 inhabitants in 1970 to 4.9 in 2007, an overall reduction of 38 %. Over the same period, marriages became less stable, as reflected by the increase in the crude divorce rate from 0.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1970 to 2.1 in 2007. When considering the increase in the divorce rate it should be noted that national laws did not allow divorce in several countries until recent decades and therefore the increased number of divorces in the EU may be, in part, due to divorces occurring in Member States where divorce was not previously possible.
The crude marriage rate was highest in Cyprus (7.7 per 1 000 inhabitants) and Poland (6.6) while the lowest crude marriage rates were reported in Slovenia (3.2) and Bulgaria (3.4).
The lowest crude divorce rates were recorded in Ireland (0.8 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2007) and Italy (0.9 in 2008). A number of other southern Member States also recorded relatively low crude divorce rates, including Slovenia (1.1) and Greece (1.2). The highest crude divorce rates were recorded in Belgium (3.0 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2009), ahead of Lithuania and the Czech Republic (both with 2.8).
Discussion about this post