Tuesday, October 1, 2002
Chilean minister says divorce law will be in the books in Chile soon
A story released today by Comtex reports that National Women's Service Minister Adriana Delpiano, who is on an official visit to Mexico, told the press that Chile will have a divorce law on the books by mid-2003.
The new civil-matrimony act, which includes divorce, was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, but it was not until Jan. 17 of this year that the Senate agreed to debate the legislation.
The bill covers annulments, as well as divorce, with or without dissolution of marriage, either by mutual consent or at the request of one party.
Delpiano said Monday the debate has been productive but added that she had doubts about Senate approval of all the proposed permissible grounds for divorce ratified by the lower house, particularly dissolution of marriage at the request of only one party.
The new civil marriage law would end annulments that allow a marriage to be invalidated but would have no provisions for the protection of the wife and children after the separation, since it establishes that the union never existed.
Annulments, which have been called "legal fraud," have been in existence since 1885 and allow couples to invalidate the marriage as long as both spouses agree to often false arguments made by lawyers.
