Children will be better off with proposed divorce law, Moviment Iva
The proposed divorce legislation will se children “better off” in conflicts between parents, says Moviment IVA chairperson Deborah Schembri.
Speaking in Mgarr, Deborah Schembri said that currently one in three children in Malta are born out of wedlock.
“Yesterday and today, such children suffer from a stigma, but the proposed divorce law provides for them, primarily because their parents will be given the right to marry and have the children formally recognised,” Schembri said.
She said this legislative feature had a crucial bearing on inheritance rights.
She added that the proposed divorce law also provides for children’s maintenance to be extended until the age of 23 rather than 18. “This would allow children to grow up and benefit from funding during their studies later on in life,” Deborah Schembri said.
During the press conference, Deborah Schembri also replied to criticism levelled at the movement for promoting a ‘no-fault divorce’. “Contrary to their arguments, a fault-based divorce is very negative on children because they will be caught up in the middle of two spouses, trying to pass on blame to one another. Besides, having a fault based divorce is un-necessary because the issues would be sorted out at separation stage,” she said.