Divorce, Italian style stereotypically conjures up images of crashing plates, raging jealousy and lifelong vendettas. Alas, times change: for a fee, an Italian franchise helps couples break up in “harmony.” Lasciamoci con amore (“Let’s break up with love) charges about $350 USD to facilitate a split without rancor. Divorce is still relatively new in this Catholic country–allowed by a 1974 referendum– and lengthy legal separations (a three-year minimum) mean ending a marriage isn’t taken lightly.
The Lasciamoci etiquette manual for break ups, however, reads more like an American self-help book. Traditionally, Italians would be expected to rely on family for support and advice– while the break up how-to advises:
"Forget about the opinions of friends and family, don’t let them influence you–only you know how things really are." No more is "Divorzio all’italiana" Marcello Mastroianni plotting his wife’s adultery and his subsequent crime of "passion" to justify the split –couples aren’t advised to stay together, even for the kids:
"Think about children, but not only about them. They’ll be more serene if they feel parents are serene too."
At first viewed with curiosity in 1995, agency info is often found in the ?important phone number? sections of newspapers throughout the country?along with emergency info and 24-hour pharmacies.
The franchise, based in Rome with offices throughout Italy, offers other surrogate family services like assessing couple compatibility and advice about infidelity. A separate franchise of the same company, called "Let’s Make Peace" ("Facciamo Pace"), is dedicated to repairing broken relationships and fixing miscommunication between parents and children.
www.lasciamociconamore.it