The Supreme Court in Italy ruled this month that women who commit adultery are allowed to lie under oath to protect their honor. The ruling came after a 48 year-old woman lied under oath about lending her cell phone to her lover.

Despite being known for it’s “liberal mindedness,” Sweden stands in opposition to a proposed EU initiative that would force countries to litigate divorces that go against social norms. This new proposal is causing unrest across boarders.

A proposed reform in France could remove divorces from the judicial system into the hands of notaries as an attempt to mitigate the overcrowding courtrooms in France. This would also possibly help reduce the cost of divorce.

Some NY judges have even piqued interest in the story, as many have long been advocates of shrinking the queues to their courtrooms.

In the Philippines marriage is illegal, but often domestic violence within a relationship becomes fatal.

I found an interesting article on The Wip that gives insight into a growing problem.

The Philippines is one of only two countries in the world where divorce is prohibited–the other is Malta. Some say it’s become of the Catholic stronghold.

In Cuba, many estranged couples have to live together for years after their divorce, sometimes a lifetime. While getting a divorce in Cuba is easy, obtaining housing on the island can be very difficult.

As a result of a recent change in Japan’s law that entitles a woman to walk away with half her husband’s pension, some Japanese men have formed a ‘Don’t Divorce Me Club’ to learn how to put their wife first and their job second.

Are these men really making an effort to save their marriage or are they trying to save their pension?

Representatives from 68 countries recently came together to finalize the text of a new convention that will help parents seek unpaid child support from former partners or spouses.

Margot Bean, Commissioner of the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, believes this ‘comprehensive system’ will help children receive support more rapidly.

Among those that supported the text were European nations, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and several Asian countries.

According to a recent survey, 40% of Japanese couples say they talk to their spouse less than 30 minutes each day. The study also revealed that 30% of these couples do not feel they have love in their relationship and more wives than husbands have considered divorce.

After a new law went into affect in April allowing ex-wives to claim half of their husband’s pension, the number of divorces in 2007 has been forecasted to increase.

According to a 2004 survey by the Asian Women’s Forum and the Women’s Studies Center at Peking University, 45.3 percent of women felt they did not need to give up a career for family life.

This goes against the cultural expectation that women should raise families and tend to their husbands.

Some experts link this new trend with the ‘one-child policy rule’ where families who did have daughters raised them as an old child, which may have something to do with rising population of confident career-driven woman.

There is a new trend in China where an increasingly number of couples in their early twenties are deciding to tie the knot. Going against the Chinese norm of establishing a career and marrying later on, recent college grads say they are tying the knot out of love instead of economic reasons.

Is this trend a sign of a changing culture or a current fad that will only end in an increased divorce rate in years to come?

A former Wall Street Journal foregin correspondent, Pamela Druckerman, just published her book, Lust in Translation: The Rules of Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee. It hasn’t received great reviews, yet. She compares how different cultures define adultery and how they conceptualize infidelity.

Here’s some interesting data Druckerman found:
-Only 3.8 of married men and 2% of women in France admitted to having affairs
-In the U.S. 3.9 percent of men and 3.1 percent of women acklnowledged cheating
-6 percent of Americans in one survey said it was ok to cheat in some or all situations, nearly 40 percent of Russians polled saw no problem with it.

Are some truths really better left unspoken? Yes, according to Drukerman. It’s a French idea she sympathizes with.

Today Reuters ran a story about a survey recently conducted by OnePoll.Com which reveals some interesting findings about Britons:

-almost a quarter of Britons regret marrying their spouses
-15 percent of newlyweds-to-be will walk down the aisle with misgivings
-four percent of the 4,000 married people surveyed by OnePoll.Com said they married because they wanted wedding presents and a party.

So what about in the U.S.? Why do we marry? For love?

I heard an interesting story tonight on BBC about how baby boomers in Japan are now spending more time with their spouses than ever before as they head into retirement.

Shame and money have always big issues for Japanese women who initiate 75% of all divorces in their country. But a recent change to a pension law in Japan will allow women who divorce eligibility to receive up to half of their husband’s pension plans. Experts anticipate between the new plan and retirement there will be a spike in the number of divorces in Japan.

I wonder if the same trend is occurring here in the U.S. among baby boomers. Are couples spending too much time together now that they are retired? Are they getting along as they did when at least one of the spouses was working full-time?

Do we perceive adultery different from our European counterparts? I just read an interesting article in Best Life magazine about how in the U.S. if a spouse commits adultery the marriage is ruined, but in Europe it’s just considered a bump in the relationship. Should we automatically write off our spouse if they commit adultery? Is the marriage doomed?

According to this article, over half the marriages in this country end in divorce and 17 percent of them are blamed on infidelity. Our infidelity rate is about the same as the French, yet our divorce rate is significantly higher.

Well they think it’s better than fighting, according to a recent Times UK article.

A poll of 2,000 adults and 350 children published recently found that 80 per cent of 10 to 15-year-olds were “quite happy” or “very happy” with their family life. About the same number said that things were just as good or even better since the separation. The poll was commissioned by insidedivorce.com poll and conducted last month by Tickbox.

In the UK, unmarried couples who live together for more than two years will soon be given rights. Under a new law, couples who cohabitate and then split up will be entitled to sums of money and annual maintenance payments. They can even inherit money in the event of a death.

Women in the U.K. who give up their careers to raise children may be entitled to additional compensation during their divorce.

Rep. Leslie Mortimer, R-Horton of Michigan has introduced a bill that would help child support efforts. If the bill passes,  The Child Custody Act of 1970 would be amended creating a presumption that when two parents divorce they automatically get joint custody of the child.

A new legislation recently passed in Italy making joint custody the norm when parents split. This new law helps to strengthen custody rights of divorced fathers.  Some say this law establishes the principle of co-parenting, forcing each parent to be responsible for the child.

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Kramer Vs. is supported by Rosen Law Firm as a service to the media and others interested on the latest news on divorce and family issues.

According to the Japanese Health Ministry, the divorce rate in Japan has risen some 26.5% in the last decade. This is largely blamed on the retirement stage as many Japanese men are  salarymen who work their whole marriage to find out when they retire they don’t really know their spouse at all.

Comments? Send an email.
Kramer Vs. is supported by Rosen Law Firm as a service to the media and others interested on the latest news on divorce and family issues.

At least that’s what happens in Italy. A new legislation recently passed makes joint custody the norm when parents split. This new law helps to strengthen custody rights of divorced fathers.  Some say this law establishes the principle of co-parenting, forcing each parent to be responsible for the child. Could a legislation like this ever pass in the U.S.? Would it reduce the number of deadbeat parents?

Comments? Send an email.
Kramer Vs. is supported by Rosen Law Firm as a service to the media and others interested on the latest news on divorce and family issues.