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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap11-18-121507.asp?reg=americas&vts=111820041252<http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap11-18-121507.asp?reg=americas&vts=111820041252>

 

Chileans quickly take advantage of first divorce law ever in their country

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 18 - A 48-year-old woman became the first person in 
Chilean history to file for divorce Thursday, ushering in a new era for this 
heavily Roman Catholic country that had been the last in South America with 
no divorce law.

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The justice minister called the new law a historic step, but Maria Victoria 
Torres said it was far more personal - ''a window that opens to look at a new 
life with dignity, without fear.'' 


As the Santiago Court of Appeals opened its doors Thursday, Torres, who said 
her husband abused her, was first in line. 


Torres, a beauty parlor assistant who has been married for 35 years, based 
her request for divorce on what she called ''25 years of continued violence'' 
by her husband, from whom she has been separated for months. The couple have 
two grown children. 


''This law will allow me to recover my dignity and my freedom in a legitimate 
manner,'' Torres told The Associated Press. 


Others filed for divorce at courts around the country, although the avalanche 
of petitions many predicted did not occur. 


Chile's Congress passed the law six months ago, defying the fierce opposition 
of the Catholic Church, which waged a strong campaign against it that 
included television ads. 


About 87 percent of Chileans consider themselves Catholic. 


The country was among the last in the world without a divorce law, and the 
last in South America after Paraguay allowed divorce in the 1980s. 


Other countries that still do not allow divorce    include    Malta and the 
Philippines. 


''This is a historic day for our nation,'' Justice Minister Luis Bates said, 
while also urging Chileans to be cautious before seeking a divorce. 


Until now, Chilean couples with failing marriages were forced to obtain 
annulments, often resorting to subterfuge to meet the criteria. 


It was common, for example, for one of the partners to declare before a court 
that their marriage was illegal because one spouse reported a false address 
at the time of the wedding. Some 6,000 annulments were approved every year in 
the country of 15.5 million. 


An annulment under the old system cost $670 - steep in a nation where the 
minimum wage is about $190 a month. A divorce will cost roughly half as much, 
attorneys say, and will offer better legal resolution of property disputes. 


The new law allows couples to get a divorce only after living apart for at 
least one year, if both spouses agree, and three years if only one party 
agrees. 


The waiting period can be avoided if one spouse proves there has been 
violations of marital duties by a partner, such as domestic violence, 
homosexuality, prostitution, drug addiction or a criminal conviction. 


The law also requires couples seeking a divorce to undergo counseling for at 
least 60 days.


The law took nine years to make its way through Congress. The final text 
replaced a law on marriage that had been in effect since 1884 and had no 
provision for divorce. 



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