There are other legal problems you aren't recognizing.
Without a civil union or a marriage license, if your spouse/etc. goes into the hospital, they can't tell you anything about their condition or be involved in important decisions (whether or not to begin surgery, be put on life support, etc.) Unless you're a family member, or have power of attorney, you are treated like Joe Schmoe off the street.
Also, how would you feel having no access to your kids should something happen to your spouse? Custody in same sex couple cases is hardly ever pleasant. They're unfortunately not treated like a parent, but more like an adult who lived in the house with them.
For the record, many states here have laws that protect spouses from inheriting debt or being able to seize property in divorces. I'm not exactly certain how they work, but my ex is a lawyer, as is his father, and his parents have very carefully divided their holdings in this way.
What I was saying (forgive me if I was unclear) is that EVERYBODY explicitly makes 'contracts' for all of these things (and that you can designate different individuals for different parts of the package).
To further clarify - all legal rights that marriage currently gives should be listed and any individual may desginate any other individual (or group thereof) as the recipient of each right/benefit. [Of course you'd be able to change any of it at any time].
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andrewducker) wrote2003-11-18 11:31 pm
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Without a civil union or a marriage license, if your spouse/etc. goes into the hospital, they can't tell you anything about their condition or be involved in important decisions (whether or not to begin surgery, be put on life support, etc.) Unless you're a family member, or have power of attorney, you are treated like Joe Schmoe off the street.
Also, how would you feel having no access to your kids should something happen to your spouse? Custody in same sex couple cases is hardly ever pleasant. They're unfortunately not treated like a parent, but more like an adult who lived in the house with them.
For the record, many states here have laws that protect spouses from inheriting debt or being able to seize property in divorces. I'm not exactly certain how they work, but my ex is a lawyer, as is his father, and his parents have very carefully divided their holdings in this way.
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