Divorce Juárez Style

"I would love to have a plate of tacos and enchiladas."

- Marilyn Monroe, January 20, 1961

Divorce in the United States during the mid-twentieth century did not come easy. In some states, like New York, divorce could only be obtained on the grounds of adultery. In South Carolina in the 1930s, divorces were not granted for any reason. 

In 1932, the Chihuahua state legislature capitalized on the hungry US market by adopting some of the world's most liberal divorce laws, establishing Ciudad Juárez as a mecca for divorce. Juárez became ideal for quickie divorces due to its proximity to the United States and two main legal reasons. One, residency could be established and a divorce granted in 24 hours by divorce seekers placing themselves under the legal jurisdiction of the State of Chihuahua simply by signing a foreign visitors registry with the municipal registrar. And two, only one party needed to take part in divorce proceedings. Notification of the party being sued only needed to be provided by posting notice in the state's official gazette, a paper distributed at the time only to state officials.

Almost overnight, the Juárez divorce mill's productivity eclipsed that of America's divorce capital, Reno, Nevada. In Reno, "migratory divorce" was the requirement as prospective divorcees had to live in the state for at least six weeks. Meanwhile, a Juárez divorce could be done by mail. A divorcee could grant power of attorney to a lawyer in Mexico, allowing the lawyer to sign the foreign visitors registry on their behalf. Then the lawyer could complete the entire process without the divorcee ever having stepped foot inside Mexico.

According to reporting at the time by Vanity Fair, the Juárez mail-order divorce mill produced 2,500 American decrees in just it's second year of its existence, resulting in a gross income of $500,000 for the state of Chihuahua, over $12 million adjusted for inflation. 

Eventually, the laws tightened and the municipal registry book had to be signed in person, but this did not stop the money from flowing. In fact, forcing divorcees to show up in person created a cottage industry of divorce tourism. 

In the 1960s, package deals were available for a flat fee of $2,000 that covered the cost of the divorce, hotel accommodations, food, liquor, entertainment, and an escort. The escort, usually an employee of a Mexican divorce specialist, would take several clients at a time out on the town, see them through the court proceedings the next morning, take in a bullfight and lunch, then see them to their flight back home. 

Movie stars and other celebrities made Mexican divorces the stylish thing to do. An element of mystique or prestige grew around the practice. After all, it was good enough for Marilyn Monroe.

Mexican divorces became engrained in the pop culture, inspiring plotlines in pulp novels and television shows. They even inspired a 1962 song written by Burt Bacharach and recorded by The Drifters, Mexican Divorce: 

Eventually, the party had to come to an end, and with it went a multi-million dollar industry.  The federal government of Mexico had long despised Chihuahua's easy divorce laws. The quick establishment of residency in the state was seen as a usurpation of federal power to regulate immigration. The laws changed in 1970, effectively closing off divorces to non-residents, but not before Americans could make a mad rush to the border. 

No-fault divorce laws would soon be adopted across the United States, drying up the divorce tourism demand and decimating the private detective industry, but that's a tale for another day.

Here are some noteworthy Juárez divorces from the era.

Marilyn Monroe (1961)  

Arguably the most infamous Juárez divorce was Marilyn Monroe's divorce from her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller. The divorce made front page news in El Paso, placed along side President Kennedy's first executive order and well above the latest Cold War developments.

The press reported that Monroe looked "tired an upset" during her court appearance in Juárez. "The plane was delayed and I got upset," she was reported as saying. "I don't feel like being bothered with publicity right now. But I would love to have a plate of tacos and enchiladas." 

The divorce occurred just after the filming of the icon's final movie, The Misfits. The film, written for Monroe by Miller, tells the tale of a woman making friends in Reno following her quickie divorce. Sometimes life imitates art. 

Janet Leigh (1962)

The actress best known for Psycho divorced her frequent co-star and husband of 10 years, Tony Curtis, citing "outside problems." Leigh married stockbroker Robert Brandt the next day in Las Vegas; they remained married until her passing 42 years later.

Mia Farrow (1968)

Actress Mia Farrow was only 23-years-old when she hopped on a private plane to Juárez to divorce her husband of 18 months, song and dance man Frank Sinatra. 

Farrow would later cite the 29 year age difference between the two as cause for the separation. The two would remain friends following the divorce. Very close friends.

Gloria Vanderbilt (1955)

Socialite and heiress to the Vanderbilt fortune, Gloria Vanderbilt, divorced her second husband, conductor Leopold Stokowski, who was 42 years her senior. The 31-year-old Vanderbilt charged "incompatibility of characters" as grounds for ending the ten year marriage. Another factor might have been a legendary playboy making his second appearance on this list.

That's right, Frank Sinatra. While Sinatra did not appear at this divorce or his own thirteen years later, the Juárez divorce universe seemed to rotate around him. Vanderbilt had started dating Janet Leigh's Manchurian Candidate co-star while separated from Stokowski. Sinatra would go on to star in the 1965 film, Marriage on the Rocks, a romantic "comedy" about Mexican divorce that was so bad the government of Mexico banned Sinatra from the country.

Anyway, back to our list.

Rafael "Ramfis" Trujillo Jr. (1958)

Lt. General Ramfis Trujillo, son of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, is no longer a household name, but in the 1950s, this nominal army general was known for his reckless, playboy lifestyle and association with Hollywood starlets. The 29-year-old chief of the Dominican air force was said to be dating both Kim Novak and Zsa Zsa Gabor at the time of his divorce from Octavia Adolfina Ricart de Trujillo, mother to his six children. Even the son of a dictator couldn't get out of his marriage in his home country.

It was speculated at the time that the General would marry Kim Novak following the divorce, but the marriage failed to materialize. Following his father's assassination in 1961, the  junior despot briefly ruled the Dominican Republican before being forced into exile in Spain later that year. Ramfis died in 1969 from complications related to car crash outside Madrid. 

Paulette Goddard (1942)

Actress Paulette Goddard's divorce is noteworthy due to the more famous half of the breakup, film legend Charlie Chaplin. The actor did not contest the divorce, but remained silent on the validity of the marriage in the first place, never publicly acknowledging the union. 

Legal or not, the divorce became an issue a decade later when the United States government investigated the incident as possible evidence of "moral turpitude" that would justify barring Chaplin, a suspected communist, from entering the country.

Next time, a deep look into El Paso's rich history as a gambling town.