It's always been a pet peeve of mine that legal recognition of relationships is a thing (I understand there's tradition, and that it helps with a lot of common

It's always been a pet peeve of mine that legal recognition of relationships is a thing (I understand there's tradition, and that it helps with a lot of common situations especially where children, inheritance, power of attorney etc. are involved). Mostly it's that many relationships are complicated, and many relationships aren't as simple as the things the law recognises. For example, I know a couple that are non-romantic life partners (that's the best description I can think of). They've lived together for 20+ years, are both single (but not interested in dating), and sleep in separate rooms. However they look after each other all the time, have a shared bank account, holiday together, have wills leaving everything to the other, and take jobs to make sure they can always live together. From a legal point of view though, they get none of the benefits (or drawbacks) that newlyweds get, and their relationship isn't recognised for e.g. immigration purposes should that ever arise.