WeDo Marriage Overview

Slide 1: WeDo Marriage® Limited A new way of marrying, a better type of marriage www.wedomarriage.com Dublin, Ireland

Slide 2: About our team … Windmills Parenting Books Guy Guy Guy Niall Brennan Sam Carroll Brendan Munnelly // Renewable Energy Engineer // Shared Parenting Advocate // Author of Computer Books Professional experience and Background in Track record in curriculum expertise in contract law activism and advocacy origination and development Known each other for ten years. We’ve: Shared a common goal forged by common experiences. Been developing our product for past two years.

Slide 3: What’s ahead Problem: As many as ever want to marry, but fewer that ever are. Innovation: New life choices, new thinking. Solution: Build, test, deliver.

Slide 4: What problem are we solving here?

Slide 5: Marriage: virtually extinct? Marriage is doomed and will be virtually extinct within 30 years. Ironically, the prediction comes from Relate, which used to be called the Marriage Guidance Council. Duncan White, who is in charge of Relate's 2,000 counsellors, believes that only one in five of long-term couples will be married by 2030, and at least eight in ten births will be outside marriage. ‘It (marriage) will be seen as an esoteric choice rather than the norm’. Sarah Harris, Daily Mail, 20/04/2002

Slide 6: Marriage: terminal decline? Marriage is in terminal decline, Government figures showed yesterday. By 2031 40% of men and 35% of women aged 54 in England and Wales would not have married. Daily Telegraph 30/09/2005

Slide 7: Towards near-zero marriages?

Slide 8: Marriage: as popular as ever! 68% Proportion who choose 90% Proportion of young 'married with children' people who wanted to as their preferred get married at some lifestyle choice. point. Family and Marriage Poll, People’s Lives in Britain Today, Mori, Britain (1999) Opinion Research Business (2000) 92% 80% Proportion of teens Proportion who who 'believed in support tax breaks for marriage'. married couples. Online survey for the Bliss magazine, Centre for Social Justice Poll, Britain (2004) Britain (2007)

Slide 9: Clarity Confusion As many Fewer people people as ever than ever ? say they are want to marry. marrying.

Slide 10: Here’s what we think.. People haven’t changed that much. (Most still want to marry.) Marriage has changed a great deal. (What’s now offered is not what people want.) There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with people. (There’s something ‘wrong’ with marriage.)

Slide 11: Always read the label carefully

Slide 12: Contracting a marriage?

Slide 13: The marriage contract “Marriage is the most important contract, “Husband and wife are bound by an for ourselves and for the wider world, unwritten contract of marriage that most of us will make, yet men and governed by laws of the state and the women sign up to it without mentioning decisions of the judiciary. Every bride the terms of the contract, still less and groom must learn that the state is examining them.” at the altar with them. The Sunday Times (July 11, 2004) You would never sign a contract without reading it or seeking an “When you repeat your marriage vows, attorney's advice. No options are you enter into a legal contract. There are offered, no negotiation allowed, and no three parties to that legal contract: 1) warranties extended, express or you; 2) your spouse; and 3) the state of implied, when you say ‘I do’. Ohio.” Ohio State Bar Association Often, it isn't until death or dissolution of the relationship that couples find “Marriage differs from ordinary common how intrusive the state-controlled law contracts, and is subject to control marriage laws can be.\" and regulation by the state.\" Dr. Johnette Duff, The Marriage Handbook Blackman v. Iles, 4 N.J. 82, 89

Slide 14: Three’s a crowd … “There are three partners in marriage … I refer to the two people concerned and to the state .. society or the community as a whole. The House of Commons is the centre of law-making for that community. It is, therefore, a triangular arrangement and not just one between two people.” Nigel Spearing MP, House of Commons, 24 Apr 1996

Slide 15: Contracts compared (1) Couple seek mortgage Couple seek marriage (Ordinary contract) (State marriage contract) Couple can shop for best deal Single monopoly supplier (Competition reduces cost to consumer (Monopolies elevate supplier’s interests and promotes innovation, extra features.) over those of consumer. No innovation.) Couple can negotiate terms of Terms fixed by state. (Even by contract with supplier laws not yet enacted.) (Supplier wants the couple’s business.) (Couple can take it or leave it.) Terms unwritten. No small Contract terms written down print. No print of any kind! (Couple can know what they’re getting. (Just sign here. Trust us.) Can get legal advice on terms.) Regulatory oversight No oversight (Bad contracts can be set aside by courts (State marriage contracts are exempt from on grounds such as gross unfairness, mis- established standards applicable to selling, hidden clauses, etc.) ordinary contracts.)

Slide 16: Contracts compared (2) Couple seek mortgage Couple seek marriage (Ordinary contract) (State marriage contract) Contract is legally binding Contract not legally binding. (A deal’s a deal. Failure to meet terms will (Contract can ‘break down’ with no fault.) mean loss of contractual benefits.) Contract limited in scope. Contract unlimited in scope. (‘Your home is at risk if you do not keep up (Everything – home, income, pension, repayments.’) children – falls within scope.) Cannot switch supplier Can switch to better contract (State is monopoly supplier.) (Couple move to alternative supplier.) Contract can end Contract cannot end (Most contracts have a fixed term and (Separation or divorce do not end financial reach an end date.) transfers between contract parties.)

Slide 17: Marriage contract: summary • A state marriage includes a marriage contract between three parties. • The terms of contract are not written down, and cannot be negotiated between the couple. • The state is the dominant party to the contract, and is free to impose it own terms on the couple. • The contract is not binding between the couple, but is binding between each member of the couple and the state. • The marriage contract is exempt from normal contractual standards. • The contract is ended only by death.

Slide 18: End of part one “Ask not why people are reluctant to marry, but ask why anyone is still getting married at all!” Apologies to JFK!

Slide 19: “In all industries innovation starts by observing customers.” www.trendhunter.com

Slide 20: Cohabitation=new marriage? “The number of cohabiting couples, estimated to be 2.0 million in 2003, is projected to almost double to 3.8 million by 2031.” 2003-based marital status and cohabitation projections for England and Wales Office of National Statistics, UK

Slide 21: Cohabitation contracts “A living together agreement isn’t just about breaking up, it’s about how you will live together. Making the agreement prompts you to discuss how your living together will work in practice and what your expectations of each other are. In fact many of the couples we’ve spoken to say that they found that just making the agreement strengthened their relationship. (You) could have it written by a solicitor as a formal legal ‘deed’. If you did this it would be legally binding in the same way as any legal contract between two parties.”

Slide 22: Cohabitees can (but marrieds can’t) “It is an anomalous position that husbands and wives are unable to bind themselves with a contractual pre-marital/ partnership agreement, whereas cohabitants can.” Resolution, (formerly the ‘Solicitors Family Law Association’) March 2004

Slide 23: Cohabitation v. marriage State and Cohabiting Couple State and Married Couple (Ordinary contract) (State marriage contract) Two parties to relationship Three parties to relationship. (State not a party to relationship.) (State is ‘dominant party’ to marriage.) Couple can negotiate terms of Couple cannot negotiate terms contract with each other. of contract. (Couple has ‘freedom to contract’.) (Terms imposed by family law of state.) No contract standards Contract must be compliant (Usual contractual standards do not apply (Usual and well-established contractual to marriage contract.) standards apply to cohabitation contract.) Ordinary courts No oversight (Ordinary courts with ‘standard’ procedures (Family law courts with ‘special’ procedures have jurisdiction over contract.) have jurisdiction over contract.)

Slide 24: But no ‘marriage premium’ Across wide range of criteria – relationship stability, health, longevity, income, assets, partner abuse and life satisfaction – cohabiting couples more closely resemble single people. Cohabitation is not functionally equivalent to marriage.

Slide 25: Cohabitation: what’s missing? “Marriage is not just a label, it remains a transformative act – marriage not only names a relationship but it creates a relationship between two people, one that is acknowledged, not just by the couple itself, but by the couple's kin, friends, community, and larger society.\" Linda J. Waite, Professor in Urban Sociology, University of Chicago

Slide 26: Some new thinking (1) “I propose we replace divorce laws with compulsory marriage contracts. Such contracts would require men and women to assume responsibility for the main terms of their marriage and its breakup. They would allow couples to tailor the terms of Gary S. Becker marriage and divorce to their University Professor Department of Economics particular needs.” and Sociology Professor Graduate School of Business Why Every Married Couple Should Sign a Contract The University of Chicago Business Week, December 29 Nobel prize in Economics, 1992

Slide 27: Some new thinking (2) “Why is marriage declining? I believe one reason is because marriage has become a three-way contract between two people and the government, which is regulated by the state from wedding vows to divorce decrees. Marriage should be privatized. Let people make their own marriage contracts Wendy McElroy according to their conscience, religion and common iFeminists.com July, 2002 sense. Their diversity shouldn't affect their legality any more than the diversity of other contracts makes them unenforceable.”

Slide 28: Some new thinking (3) “A fundamental problem with marriage is that it is a monopoly product supplied by the government. Subject to certain statutory constraints, business people have long been free to form whatever sort of partnership they felt appropriate to their needs. Why not make the same possible for marriage? Colin PA Jones, US lawyer and Couples entering into marriage should be able to use a Professor at partnership agreement that is tailored to their own Doshisha University Law circumstances and aspirations, and that reflects the values and School, expectations that they themselves attach to marriage.” Kyoto, Japan January 22, 2006

Slide 29: Some new thinking (4) “With a pre-arranged custody schedule outlined before marriage, children wouldn't have to witness their parents arguing about the details, or, worse, be required to testify in court. Besides, conversations about custody between two newly engaged people could give them both a window on what their future spouse will James Andrew Miller, be like – and what he or she will expect author, screenwriter as a parent.” July 16, 2007

Slide 30: And some old thinking! “This afternoon I enter into a matrimonial agreement with Mary Jane Robinson, a young person whose opinions on all important subjects, whose mode of thinking and feeling, coincide more intimately with my own than do those of any other individual with whom I am acquainted ... This ceremony involves not the necessity...of repeating forms which we deem offensive, insomuch as they outrage the principles of human liberty and equality. Of the unjust right which the (formal marriage) ceremony gives me over the person and property of another, I can not legally, but I can morally divest myself.” Robert Owen, 1880

Slide 31: End of part two “Go on offense. Give everybody a shot. Decentralize. Try a bunch of stuff. Make it up as you go along. Get some stuff wrong. Laugh a lot. Get some stuff right. Who knows, you might get lucky …” Life 101: A 40-year Reflection Tom Peters

Slide 32: Getting down to business

Slide 33: Say hello to … WeDo Marriage® Limited The world’s first marital corporation.

Slide 34: A bright future … “Of course, it will be impractical to expect everyone to be able to draft a workable partnership agreement that will govern a (hopefully) lifelong relationship. Off-the-shelf marital partnership kits would be developed by private enterprises to fill this need. Marital corporations would be a huge boost to the multibillion-dollar wedding industry, while opening up a vast range of possible business opportunities throughout Colin PA Jones, society. US lawyer and Professor at With incentives to develop marital corporations that cater Doshisha University Law to all sectors of society, marriage would turn into an School, Kyoto, Japan even bigger business than it already is. This is usually what happens when you offer consumers more choice.”

Slide 35: Crisis=Danger+Opportunity What? Satisfy the large and growing gap (between those who express a desire to marry and those who actually do). How? By making marriage more attractive (by making it more like other contract-based services). Where? UK and Ireland (at least initially).

Slide 36: About our value proposition • We enable couples to marry each other without also marrying the state. • We empower couples to design and implement civil marriage contracts grounded not on family law but on contract law. • We offer couples – and their children – the benefits of the marriage premium without the disadvantages of the family law experience.

Slide 37: We’re getting busy …

Slide 38: About our company • We are a knowledge-based company • We create intellectual property • We license it to national operating companies globally • National operators franchise it to specialist delivery partners.

Slide 39: We’re building a brand • Solutions not problems: making successful people more successful and happy people happier. • Future-focused: new offering, replacing old system that is increasingly unpopular, unwanted and discredited. 2010’s not 1970’s. • Fairness-based: people are customers not subjects, equal in dignity and rights, win-win, reciprocity. • Confident people: enabling informed choices, expert guidance, marriage terms freely chosen not imposed by ‘nanny state’. • Green themed: Green is the colour of the one-household family. • Pro-natal: No children, no future. Leave a genetic legacy and not be a DNA dead-end.

Slide 40: We’re building a product • Set of frameworks and processes: procedures, flowcharts, checklists, audit trails, signoffs, informed by expert guidance and supported by independent legal advice. • Compliant to highest international standards: mandatory codes of practice, ethics panel, ISO 9001, professional bodies. • Trusted Endorsements: appeal to fairness-based trading, faith communities, social enterprises, sustainability, extending social capital. • Scalable and transferable: product can be adapted to multiple jurisdictions across the world. • Brand protected: unique combination of personal backstory, standards-compliance and trusted endorsements.

Slide 41: We’re building a supply chain • Legal professionals: Opportunity to gain repeat business by offering counsel in a proactive and positive context. • Medical specialists: opportunity to offer ongoing services in preventative medicine and lifestyle management. • Financial advisors: opportunity to build long-term client relationships areas such as investment planning and wealth- management. • Relationship specialists: opportunity to develop, refine expertise in evidence-based programmes and contribute to ongoing development of intellectual property.

Slide 42: Our business model

Slide 43: And finally “Do you know what good comes out of? … Out of bad. Because you can’t make it out of anything else.” Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men

Slide 44: Questions? www.wedomarriage.com Dublin, Ireland