Salt Lake City, Utah, Apr 19, 2018 / 23:01 pm
Utah is encouraging its citizens to better prepare for marriage by discounting the cost of marriage licenses for couples who complete marriage preparation classes.
The law, signed March 20 by Utah Governor Gary Herbert, will discount marriage licenses by $20 for couples who complete at least three hours of premarital counseling or six hours of premarital classes at least 14 days before applying for a marriage license. These services may be provided by either religious or secular organizations.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Senator Allen Christensen, said it is an effort to counter the high divorce rate.
"Typically, in Utah, we have 25,000 marriages a year. About 10,000 of those are going to end up in divorce," he said, according to the Brigham Young University student publication.