Covenant Marriage Links

This Covenant Marriage Links page is intended to bring together everything about Covenant Marriage -- legislation, news, opinions, and articles. It also presents related proposals for choice in marriage and divorce, and explores the history of the idea of Covenant Marriage.

Another great place to look for Covenant Marriage news and background information is the web site of State Rep. Tony Perkins, the sponsor of

Laura Sanchez and Steven Nock, et al., "Social and Demographic Factors
Associated with Couples Choice between Covenant and Standard Marriage in
Louisiana," available at
http://www.bgsu.edu/organizations/cfdr/research/pdf/2002/2002_6.pdf
Laura A. Sanchez, Steven L. Nock, and James D. Wright, "The Implementation of Covenant Marriage in Louisiana," Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 9 (December, 2000): 192-223.

Louisiana's Covenant Marriage law.

What is covenant marriage?

Covenant Marriage laws generally provide that a couple can choose, at the time of marriage or later, to have slightly more limited grounds for no-fault divorce in their marriage. The couple is required to get marriage education or counseling before their marriage (or the conversion of their marriage to a covenant marriage), and also before divorcing.

How do you get a covenant marriage?

Legal Covenant Marriages are currently available only in Arkansas, Arizona and Louisiana. (Legislation for them also has passed one house, but not both, in Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma.) In most states you do not have to be a state resident to get married in the state, or to "upgrade" an existing marriage into a Covenant Marriage.

Non-Governmental Covenant Marriage: The concept of Covenant Marriage began mostly as a way of teaching people to renew and strengthen their marriages, not as legislation. The Covenant Marriage Movement offers marriage covenant documents, which are social, moral and spiritual contracts rather than legal ones. Dr. Bob Christensen's Covenant Marriages Ministry offers books and tapes on how to make your marriage a Covenant Marriage. People sometimes ask us if there are particular marriage vows that people use in covenant marriages. We do not know of wedding ceremonies being done any differently in covenant marriages, but there is a Covenant Marriage Vows Poem that you may find appropriate for your ceremony.

Covenant Marriage Legislation

Covenant Marriage News

Ohio Covenant Marriage Bill
Covenant Marriage poll

The following news stories are no longer at the addresses given below, but if you really want to find them you can do so easily via http://lists.his.com/smartmarriages/ --

2004 Iowa CM bill goes to House floor
Interview with State Rep. Tony Perkins, first legislator to sponsor Covenant Marriage in La.
Oklahoma Covenant bill passes house x
Covenant Marriage Debated at A.B.A. Meeting
2,500 Louisiana Covenant Marriage "Upgraders" in First Eight Months
Estimated 2.9% of new Louisiana Marriages are Covenant in mid-1998, compared with under 1% at first
Georgia Senate approves divorce waiting period, adds Covenant Marriage option
Arizona Adopts Covenant Marriage Law
Story on Missouri Bill similar to Covenant Marriage
Australian covenant marriage proposal 1998 x
Louisiana Clergy's Reaction to Covenant Marriage x
Virginia Marriage Covenant Law Proposed x
Washington State Covenant Marriage and Mandatory Pre-divorce counseling bills, 1998 x
Louisiana Clergy's Reaction to Covenant Marriage -- Michael McManus says clergy should welcome it x

Covenant Marriage Articles and Opinions

Study of Covenant Marriage's Implementation and Demographics
Testimony on Maryland Covenant Marriage bill, 1999 - John Crouch
Convenant marriage foes fail to make their point by Cathy Young
Covenant Marriage Reformers Should Listen to Divorce Lawyers -- Carefully
Fixing the Meaning of Marriage, by Lila Hoffman-Thome -- "Swans don't need contracts; they know what "forever" means."
Friendly Critique of a Typical Covenant Marriage Bill by John Crouch of Americans for Divorce Reform
Sponsor, other Louisianans explain Covenant Marriage -- WORLD Magazine
Prospects for Covenant Marriage in Canada -- includes interview with the law professor who drafted the Louisiana law, and with Maggie Gallagher
'Covenant' forces couples to work to avoid divorce -- article quoting Gallagher and American Bar Association Family Law chair Ira Lurvey
Communitarian Network position paper: Opportuning Virtue: Covenant Marriages,the Louisiana Experience, and Beyond
Walter Olson article in Reason supporting Covenant Marriage
Astute, balanced Waco Tribune-Herald editorial: "I've tried divorces both ways and am at a loss to say which is worse."
Letters to TIME about Covenant Marriage. Short and interesting. Excerpt: " People who enter a covenant marriage will feel more secure and be more inclined to make the commitments, sacrifices and investments necessary for marital success."
Washington Post Magazine story on Covenant Marriage and couples choosing it
Covenant Marriage Vows Poem
"Covenant Marriage option would please no one" by JUDY MARKEY

See also our page of citations to Law Review Articles on Divorce Reform, which includes several on covenant marriage and related concepts.

Related proposals for choice in marriage and "exit rules"

Classic Marriage -- Our Model Legislation.
Washington State Bill Allowing Contracts to Restrict No-Fault Divorce
Model Act to Reduce Divorce, Reduce Role of Fault and Effect on Children
LIBERTARIAN CASE AGAINST NO FAULT DIVORCE, by Innes Fleming, J.D.
"On Marriage-Stabilizing Legal Techniques," by Hans Hattenhauer. 36 Zeitschrift für das gesamte Familienrecht, p. 225 (March 1989)
David Boaz: Privatize Marriage
"The Privatization of Marriage", by Hans Hattenhauer. 1985 ZRP Heft 7, p. 200.
INTERNATIONAL FAMILY LAW May 1998, -- Emma Hartley, Contractual Freedom Within the Family (pages 39-42)
All couples should have Marriage Contracts to tailor the terms of marriage and divorce to their
particular needs -- Gary Becker in Business Week x
"The Marriage of Your Choice" by Christopher Wolfe in First Things, Feb. 1995
South Africa recognizes customary contract marriages, gives wives rights, making polygamy expensive
Walter Olson article in Reason supporting Covenant Marriage

More Law Review Articles on Divorce Reform and Covenant Marriage

**Attention, Users: Dead Links Aren't Really Dead

History of the idea of Covenant Marriage

The First Covenant Marriage Proposal, by Henri Mazeaud, 1945
Debate on Mazeaud Proposal in the French Civil Code Reform Commission, 1947
On Marriage-Stabilizing Legal Techniques, by Hans Hattenhauer. 36 Zeitschrift für das gesamte Familienrecht, p. 225 (March 1989)
The Privatization of Marriage, by Hans Hattenhauer. 1985 ZRP Heft 7, p. 200.
1990 Florida Covenant Marriage Bill HR 1585
Elizabeth Scott, "Rational Decisionmaking in Marriage and Divorce" (1990): For excerpt, go to Communitarian Network's Opportuning Virtue and search for "Rational"
Amitai Etzioni's 1993 "Super Vows" proposal in TIME Magazine
Dr. Bob Christensen's Covenant Marriages Ministry (early 90s to present). Offers Books and Tapes on Covenant Marriage.
Michael and Sonja Herbert's Covenant Marriage Conferences (early to mid-90s)
"The Marriage of Your Choice" by Christopher Wolfe in First Things, Feb. 1995
Washington State Bill Allowing Contracts to Restrict No-Fault Divorce
The difference between Covenant Marriage and Non-Binding Marriage: address by Elder Bruce C. Hafen, October, 1996

Other proposals for choice of rules in marriage and divorce
More Law Review Articles on Divorce Reform and Covenant Marriage

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