4 ms·

Well, for one thing, the marriage party can be a lot of fun (but I agree that many people spend way too much thing). I think the event (because it is a point in

Well, for one thing, the marriage party can be a lot of fun (but I agree that many people spend way too much thing). I think the event (because it is a point in time) can bring some sort of "closure" to the parents, though this is mostly more significant in younger marriages, which are less common. I really have know idea why we do the official registration bit. Presumably it makes life easier for the bureaucrates, which I don't particularly mind. If you had a mariage cerremony, and started calling yourselvs married without actually doing the paperwork, would anyone actually care?

texasbigdata 6y ago
With $x0,000 you can have a hell of a party regardless...
lotsofpulp 6y ago
> I really have know idea why we do the official registration bit. Presumably it makes life easier for the bureaucrates, which I don't particularly mind. If you had a mariage cerremony, and started calling yourselvs married without actually doing the paperwork, would anyone actually care? The registration bit is the most important part, it’s not bureaucratic. For the same reason that you need to have documents drawn up to form a business partnership, it’s for when things go sideways. The registration is the proof that both parties entered into a contract, enforceable by the government.
- astura 6y ago
  It's so important a lot of people (like me) just skip the party and just go straight to the registration part.
SOLAR_FIELDS 6y ago
> If you had a maraige cerremony, and started calling yourselvs married without doing the paperwork, would anyone actually care? If you are lucky enough to live in one of the few remaining places in the world where common-law marriage is still allowed, you can do precisely this. You essentially cohabitate for some amount of time (in my jurisdiction there is actually no set minimum time though I imagine the longer you live together the more legal water it holds) and then just tell people in public that you are married. No paperwork necessary. I managed to make it four years under such an agreement with my partner doing things such as buying a house, relocating internationally, sharing taxes, finances and medical insurance, without actually needing paperwork. Relocating internationally was the trickiest, but after explanation to the new country of the law they were willing to accept the document that showed we bought a house together as evidence of our marriage. Eventually this year we finally had to get some paperwork, forced to by, believe it or not, government bureaucrats who would absolutely not allow me to be placed under my partner’s medical insurance (government employee) without marriage documents. Fortunately our jurisdiction allows you to get a piece of paper that just says something like “We decided we were married on this date and the county affirms it”. The paper is stamped by the county and filed like typical marriage paperwork, takes about 5 minutes and does not require a judge. Overall if someone wants the benefits of marriage without all of the pomp and circumstance and happens to be lucky enough to live in one of the jurisdictions where common law marriage is allowed, I can recommend it.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- berdario 6y ago
  I had no idea that such places existed. I looked it up, and one of them for example is Ontario: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Ontario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Ontario
  - redis_mlc 6y ago
    In Ontario, more than 8% of couples are common-law. Normally that requires 3 years of continuous cohabitation, but there was an infamous recent case where periodic vacations and social media pictures were considered, instead of cohabitation.

texasbigdata 6y ago

With $x0,000 you can have a hell of a party regardless...

lotsofpulp 6y ago

> I really have know idea why we do the official registration bit. Presumably it makes life easier for the bureaucrates, which I don't particularly mind. If you had a mariage cerremony, and started calling yourselvs married without actually doing the paperwork, would anyone actually care? The registration bit is the most important part, it’s not bureaucratic. For the same reason that you need to have documents drawn up to form a business partnership, it’s for when things go sideways. The registration is the proof that both parties entered into a contract, enforceable by the government.

astura 6y ago
It's so important a lot of people (like me) just skip the party and just go straight to the registration part.

SOLAR_FIELDS 6y ago

> If you had a maraige cerremony, and started calling yourselvs married without doing the paperwork, would anyone actually care? If you are lucky enough to live in one of the few remaining places in the world where common-law marriage is still allowed, you can do precisely this. You essentially cohabitate for some amount of time (in my jurisdiction there is actually no set minimum time though I imagine the longer you live together the more legal water it holds) and then just tell people in public that you are married. No paperwork necessary. I managed to make it four years under such an agreement with my partner doing things such as buying a house, relocating internationally, sharing taxes, finances and medical insurance, without actually needing paperwork. Relocating internationally was the trickiest, but after explanation to the new country of the law they were willing to accept the document that showed we bought a house together as evidence of our marriage. Eventually this year we finally had to get some paperwork, forced to by, believe it or not, government bureaucrats who would absolutely not allow me to be placed under my partner’s medical insurance (government employee) without marriage documents. Fortunately our jurisdiction allows you to get a piece of paper that just says something like “We decided we were married on this date and the county affirms it”. The paper is stamped by the county and filed like typical marriage paperwork, takes about 5 minutes and does not require a judge. Overall if someone wants the benefits of marriage without all of the pomp and circumstance and happens to be lucky enough to live in one of the jurisdictions where common law marriage is allowed, I can recommend it.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
berdario 6y ago
I had no idea that such places existed. I looked it up, and one of them for example is Ontario: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Ontario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Ontario
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  In Ontario, more than 8% of couples are common-law. Normally that requires 3 years of continuous cohabitation, but there was an infamous recent case where periodic vacations and social media pictures were considered, instead of cohabitation.