What are some of the special incidents and effects of a covenant marriage?
The law provides that the spouses to a covenant marriage owe to each other the same legal obligations as couples in a “standard” marriage, but it also provides, in addition, some special rules. Essentially, these special rules include the following:
spouses owe each other love and respect and they commit to a community of living
spouses are bound to live together, unless there is a good cause otherwise
the spouses determine the family residence by mutual consent, according to their requirements and those of the family
the management of the household shall be the right and the duty of both spouses
spouses by mutual consent after collaboration should make decisions relating to family life in the best interest of the family
An extremely important and special incident and effect of a covenant marriage is that each of the parties to the covenant marriage has voluntarily declared, “If we experience marital difficulties, we commit ourselves to take all reasonable efforts to preserve our marriage, including marriage counseling”. It should be noted that not only formal marital counseling, if needed, be undertaken by the spouses in times of marital difficulties but also all other reasonable steps as well be observed
