With getting the nod from their offspring becoming nearly a mission impossible, senior couples in Shanghai are preferring to cohabit rather than getting re-married, the Shanghai Morning Post reported today.

As re-marriage between two elderly people will involve problems of how to handle their personal deposits, properties and assets and the inheritance issue, cohabitation has become an ideal option for senior couples, said an industry analyst.

Wang, a local elderly man aged nearly 70, got to know Lin of nearly the same age three years ago after his wife died, and they decided to get married after more than one year. In his surprise, Wang's two daughters quarreled with him everyday, doubting that Lin is targeting their father's properties.

In order to prevent their father from remarrying, the two daughters were tracking Wang's whereabouts in turns, and also hid his registered permanent residence book. Finally, Wang gave way, choosing to cohabit with Lin secretly.

However, some elderly don't want to get re-married themselves for the fear that their remarriage might not last long. The divorce rate between remarried couples in Tianjin reached 70 percent, and 50 percent in Shanghai.

"We will have more freedom if we don't get married, and it will be simpler for us to break up," said a local elderly.

Senior re-married couples are obsessed with many problems, with those cohabiting suffering from large psychological pressure, said Sun Pengbiao, vice director with the Shanghai Research Center on Aging.

"The senior couples should be cautious toward cohabiting which are not admitted and protected by the law," Sun said.

(eastday.com November 1, 2003)