’Don’t marry for sake of it’

Warning for gay couples

A LEADING Gold Coast family law expert has warned same-sex couples against rushing into marriage given Australia had one of the highest divorce rates in the world.

Burleigh Heads-based lawyer Marie Fedorov has been a passionate supporter of the “Yes” vote but she had concerns gay couples may enter marriage for the wrong reasons.

“I see hundreds of couples a year who are seeking a divorce, or in the case of same-sex couples, seeking to resolve their property and custody matters,” Ms Fedorov told the Bulletin.

The founder of Australia’s Divorce in a Day process, Ms Fedorov fears that many samesex couples may rush to the altar without thinking about their long-term compatibility.

“While I have been publicly advocating for the ‘Yes’ vote, I don’t want to see same-sex couples just marrying for the sake of marrying once the laws are changed to legally allow it,” she said.

“To put it simply, one third of all marriages throughout Australia end in divorce. This places the nation not far behind the UK where 42 per cent of marriages end in divorce.

“Separated couples often end up paying tens of thousands of dollars to lawyers to fight for them. There are generally no winners as the process becomes lengthy, expensive and emotionally draining.”

A report in the Bulletin last month revealed same-sex couples on the Coast had begun planning wedding ceremonies after the Senate passed the same-sex marriage bill.

Ms Fedorov warns the average cost of divorce involving the Courts can be $40,000.