There’s nothing quite like a freshly ground cup of Sumatran coffee to start the day.
Almost.
Very occasionally there’s also some good news trying to get heard between the stories of wars, mindless acts of violence and exploitation, corruption and the circus that we so affectionately call politics.
Back in July last year we posted a blog about mixed-marriage regulations and property rights in Indonesia, which got quite a lot of attention. We closed the piece by saying The Indonesian Mixed-Marriage Society (PerCa) were pushing for a change to Article 29 in the 1974 Marriage Law, which is the need for a prenuptial agreement for mixed-marriage couples.
Well, towards the end of last year the Constitutional Court declared the requirement of a Prenup as stipulated in Article 29 to be both unfair and unconstitutional!
This is good news?
Yes it is. It’s actually fantastic, wonderful, brilliant news, especially if you’re in a mixed marriage and doubly so if you’re in the real estate industry.
Happy days!
This is a hugely significant step, not just because of its impact on the property industry in Indonesia, but it’s also another sign that Jokowi’s administration is serious about its commitment to streamline bureaucracy and do away with rules and regulations, which slow down national development.
The Jakarta Post reported PerCa as saying “the ruling upholds the principal of justice and gives local spouses the constitutional rights they are entitled to … we fully welcome the ruling by the Constitutional Court, which shows that it cares about, and sides with, mixed-marriage couples who are often subject to discrimination.”
This is also great news for thousands of mixed-marriage couples (and their families) across Indonesia and a huge thanks needs to go out to Ike Farida and the PerCa team for their determination and commitment in lobbying for the change.
Thank you Ike Farida! Job well done.
The bottom line of the Constitutional Court’s decision is that local spouses of foreigners can now buy property without a Prenup.
These couples still need to have an agreement (some are calling it a Post Marital Agreement or Postnup because you can’t by definition have a back-dated Prenup), which addresses the issue of separate ownership of property.
And now they don’t need to go through the farce of getting a divorce, which some had resorted to. Now that has to be on the freaky side of normal if you ask me, especially if you’re happily married. Imagine if you did … get a divorce I mean, for the sake of getting round a regulation.
I guess you’d have to propose all over again and your partner would have to say ‘yes’ (fingers crossed on that one); then you’d have to make a Prenup (the whole point of the exercise remember) then set the special date (because everyone loves a wedding), then send out the invites (don’t forget to invite the kids and ex-laws), then order the cakes and then re-marry all over again.
In the words of the great Bob Dylan … The Times They are a Changin’ and thankfully, now mixed-marriage couples get to stay sane, happily married and get an Agreement, and apparently it won’t cost an arm and a leg to do it either.
Well it shouldn’t.
Let us know if you’ve been through this experience. We’d love to hear from you through hello@sevenstonesindonesia.com
