Consensual Union - An Intermediate State Between Two Marriages

Although in Romania, the number of divorces is considered to be in a continuous increase, in reality, the data of the National Institute of Statistics show that the divorce rate remains constant even in small shares. In 1990, the Romanian divorce rate was 1.42 ‰ and the latest national INS data show a general indicator of 1.39 ‰. The low divorce rate in Romania does not imply, at the same time, a high rate of marital happiness for the Romanian family. With many cultural influences, the status of divorced does not enjoy much tolerance, so some of the potential legal separation decisions are veiled by traditional imperatives that block or delay divorce. However, the new legal proceedings after 2010 regarding the option of legal separation at the notary or before the registrar have created the premise of a simplified divorce that avoids the courts, long and frequent appearances, as well as a greater social exposure (Bet, 2015). The study aims to analyze the motivations of individuals in favour of divorce at the notary and the registrar, starting from the dilemma of arguing a simplified legal procedure or a decision related to a better protection of privacy. The paper is based on a qualitative research, the method being the sociological survey and the research tool used was the semi-structured interview. For the collection of data, the technique of non-probabilistic qualitative sampling of convenience was used.