Is marriage insurance a good idea? U.S. company wants to sell it to Canadians

You've said your vows, promised to stick together 'till death does you part, and all that. But will you?

With about one in three marriages in Canada ending in divorce before the 30-year anniversary, a U.S. insurance company wants to bet that your diamond is not forever.

SafeGuard Guaranty Corp. is developing a marriage insurance program that would help with the financial burden of divorce, but also reward couples who stick together for a long stretch of time.

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"If you stay married for 25 years," SafeGuard founder and CEO John Logan tells CBC, "we'll write you a big cheque that's much bigger than what you would ever get in terms of divorce coverage."

The insurance plan would offer a payout to couples who get divorced anytime after their fourth-year anniversary. Then, if they stay together for 25 years, they could collect up to $100,000. It's not on the market yet, though, as the company still needs to find an underwriter to sign on.

"It becomes a win-win situation," Logan says. "In other words, you don't have to get divorced to get paid."

But isn't it a bit cynical for a company to be gambling on your marital success? Or is it par for the course in an industry that's already placing wagers on whether or not we'll die young?

Toronto-based psychologist and relationship therapist Tami Kulbatski thinks this isn't something newlyweds should be spending their time or their money on.

"A couple entering marriage needs to focus on what they can do to increase their chances of long-term success," she argues, "rather than on purchasing insurance from a company that is betting against them."

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She thinks, unsurprisingly given her profession, that counseling services would be a better investment.

"And if you are able to afford it," she says, "make a monthly contribution into a joint savings account that the two of you can use towards a dream 25th wedding anniversary vacation."

But for those marriages that just can't be saved, divorce can have a devastating effect on the former couple's finances. There are often legal fees on top of the added costs of setting up separate abodes. In fact, Logan's inspiration for this plan stemmed from his own costly divorce.

"When the dust settled, I was broke and about to lose my home," he tells the National Underwriter Property & Casualty magazine. "I thought, 'I can't be the only person that this has happened to.'"

Surely not. And he's ready to bet on it.

Watch the comical Niecy Nash discuss how important, or not important, money is in a relationship.