Divorce in Star Trek

[horatio83]

Pre-reformation Ferengi women are treated like property, like slaves. No need for a marriage contract with a person who has no rights, whom you basically own.

 

[Timo]

But apparently the wife is just a means to a contract between the husband and the father of the bride. The very insignificance of the wife eliminates her as a factor that would call for simplicity; the contract could just as well be over the rental of a hovercar as over the rental of a womb, and would still make a bent corkscrew look like a ramrod in comparison.

Although I gather clever Ferengi fathers have long since realized that their clever daughters can milk stupid husbands dry by not letting their own intellect show. In which case the contracts may well feature insidious little clauses that give the wife all sorts of powers, and the unwary husband gets fooled because he can't imagine the brainless wife being capable of exploiting him through those powers.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[horatio83]

Sorry, now I get it, marriage as an arranged marriage where the wife is sold from father to husband and the wife as agent for their father or, if I might add this idea, Ferengi women trying to create a space for themselves which on Ferengi obviously includes getting their hands on some latinum.
They might be discriminated against but they still have the lobes for business.

 

[Sci]

We know that Bolians, for instance, have group marriages -- "Field of Fire" (DS9) establishes the existed of Bolian families that feature a wife and co-husbands [..] granted, it's never been canonically established that Denobula joined the Federation

To be sure, it's never established that Bolians joined, either.

I think the sheer number of Bolian Starfleet officers and civilians we see in Federation society strongly implies that they are Federation Members. In particular, the fact that a Bolian holonovel publisher was referred to as a Federation publisher and subject to Federation law strongly implies so (VOY: "Author, Author"). Bolarus is explicitly established to be a Member in the novels, and a Bolian Federate name Min Zife serves as Federation President from 2373 to 2379.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But would that actually be "divorce?" If you had a term marriage, and successfully broke the contact prior to it agreed upon conclusion date, that might be Ferengi divorce.

Under Ferengi law, even if married to wife number one, Rom might still have been able to marry Lita, as wife number two.

Rom's original marriage contract with Prinadora was for a five-year term. Rom did sign an extension, but that was because he (against all Ferengi tradition) actually fell in love with her, and didn't bother to read the fine print. Thus Prinadora and her father were able to take what little money Rom had, and Prinadora left him.

What all this means is that apparently Ferengi marriages, as such, are for a specific length of time, and the husband can extend it if he wants. If there is anything resembling 'divorce' in Ferengi society, we don't know it, but I would guess that the husband can break the contract any time he wants, and the wife has no say in it (or much of anything else).

FWIW, in the novels, Rom's subsequent marriage to Leeta is allowed under Ferengi law precisely because Leeta isn't a Ferengi. "A contract is a contract is a contract - but only between Ferengi."

 

[datalogan]

In the DC Comics Star Trek annual #3 (vol 3) Scotty and his wife Glynnis were discussing renewing their marriage contract. Glynnis opted not to when she realized Scotty was going to return to space duty.

Also, if I remember this comic correctly, this marriage between Scotty and Glynnis was referred to as a "standard" 5-year contract.