'Til Death Do Us Part

Sloan Evans drummed her fingers anxiously on the armrest of her office chair. She had painstakingly assisted countless clients on completing the questionnaire she now faced herself. Sloan knew how to soothe their nerves and guide them through the most important decisions of their lives. She inadvertently glanced down at her modest engagement ring and wondered silently if her fiancé was struggling as well. Sloan and Edgar had yet to set a wedding date, but she knew nothing could move forward until they submitted the pre-nuptial forms mandated by the federal government.

Marriage has always been a big commitment. However, since the Family Law Revision Act of 2025 was passed, the stakes of being “legally bound” to someone in holy matrimony could not be higher. When Sloan graduated from SMU’s law school in 2019, the divorce rate in the United States was a staggering 50%. She knew the stats forwards and backwards – 14.9 divorces per 1,000 marriages used to be the norm. The costs in dollars, time, court proceedings, custody battles, and broken families led to a legislative revolution. Sloan and Edgar were both children of divorce and more than aware of what went along with it. They had both lived entitled, but problematic upper-middle class childhoods in the Dallas suburbs. Sloan and Ed, as she now called him affectionately, knew each other in high school but ran with different crowds. She went to Baylor after high school, and he got his undergraduate degree from UT-Austin. When they sate down in the same row of their 1L Civil Procedure class, they were intrigued to be thrust in each other’s lives again.

“Lawyers make the worst lovers.” This was a common phrase they volleyed playfully at each other during their courtship. It became clear from the beginning they were destined to be more than study partners. Sloan knew she loved him deeply and the feelings were amply reciprocated on Ed’s end. They both went into family law after interning at the same law firm their third year at SMU. They were surrounded by newly betrothed couples thriving in the family-oriented Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. They realized that what had been a fun and breezy relationship would have to change if they too wanted to start a family south of turning 30.

They relished the revolution of domestic life made possible by the passage of the Family Law Revision Act of 2025 (or FLRA as it was commonly referred to by most). The methods were harsh and unorthodox, but there was no arguing with the results five years later. The nearly non-existent divorces (abuse or insanity were the only acceptable reasons for separating now), children only allowed to grow up in two-parent households, no more drawn-out custody battles, no alternating weekends juggling kids between separate households…it seemed too good to be true to those latchkey kids of bygone years.

Sloan let her mind wander away from the questions before her and think about Edgar’s proposal. It was still customary to give one’s intended an engagement ring. However, the true token of domestic bliss shifted to the mandatory heart-shaped lockets each spouse was required to always wear. Inside the lockets were where the wedding bands stayed. Upon closer inspection, the lockets were intricate machines buzzing with biometrical data and other hidden features. They operated like a FitBit or an Apple Watch that could track all essential life functions 24/7. Ironically, hidden within the lockets was a vial of potassium chloride capable of stopping life in an instant. The days of battling out differences in court were long gone. Now, everything was decided ahead of time, and no one went into a marriage blindly or impulsively.

Sloan knew even though she and Ed had been together officially for over six years, deciding to get married was a completely different ballgame. She also knew that even though they were filling out their questionnaires separately, their answers had to be in alignment, or the marriage license would be automatically denied. Fidelity, stability, and commitment were of the utmost importance to them. They had no desire to take the open marriage route some couples agreed on out of fear they could not follow through with their vows. Each couple had to determine prior to tying the knot what would be acceptable within the bounds of their marriage and which vows were unbreakable.

The U.S. government allowed for affairs if both parties had the same understanding; any children produced out-of-wedlock would be confiscated and reassigned to an approved family unit. From the onset of puberty, both young men and women had to be on birth control. The powers-that-be had watched enough episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale to not want a Gilead. It was understood that pre-marital sex happens and so does infidelity. However, only within a sanctioned marriage bed were children officially conceived. Any illegal or illicit unions resulting in accidental pregnancies had to be consummated within 6 months or any resulting children became wards of the state.

Sloan and Edgar knew the price to pay for the privilege of a legally sanctioned marriage. As lawyers, they helped newly engaged couples navigate setting parameters every day. Sloan knew the risks and rewards of becoming Mrs. Edgar Poe. Ed knew he dare not take a second look at any of the co-eds interning at their law firm. It was too big of a risk, and he needed as much practice as possible before his wandering eye could cost him his life. The heart-shaped lockets precisely measured to fit over their own hearts guaranteed the enforcement of the pledges made on their wedding day.

Sloan took a deep breath and forged ahead with the questions before her. She answered the first and moved on to the next. Ed’s kind eyes flashed before her. She could not fathom asking anything of him that she was not willing to give herself. Her chest tightened as she moved through the forms. She was aware there were already a pair of lockets on hold for the future Mr. and Mrs. Poe as soon as they officially announced their engagement in the Dallas Morning News and their local Frisco Gazette. Sloan and Edgar knew formalizing their love was a risk worth taking. They were each prepared to be together for the rest of their lives. Or until an ominous click in the back of the locket said their lives would be over sooner than later. Either way, the FLRA guaranteed all couples the fulfillment of the sacred oath, “‘til death do us part.”