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Why don't we just eliminate the legal definition of "marriage" and replace it with a system designed to protect spouses and children? Then we can make the concept of marriage a religion and tradition thing...
Oh, that's right. We'd have the same system we have today, except different words codifying it.
Elimination of "marriage" would mean that the person named as your beneficiary doesn't need to be someone of the opposite gender (in most states), can be anyone relationship wise (even just a friend or relative), and can be married to someone else (or single). It would also be (as the OP suggested) a non-lifetime-binding contract.
That's not the same system we have today and the implications is far reaching than simply omitting terms.
No need. The marriage institution itself will be irrelevant in 50 years.
I'm not religious. However, I think in 50 years it will still be relevant. I am just a believer of separation of church and state as well as letting people pursue happiness as they see it.
23 years and still going strong. Never cheated or had a desire to. Hoping our expiration date only ends when one of us has taken our last breath.
I tell ALL looking to get married for the first time. If you find that right ONE, life is great.
Again... false equivalency. As you said... typically a married couple is an economic unit. That isn't necessarily true today.. and is less and less applicable. Especially when a married couple in most states is still a man and woman of which neither are married to another.
Again... take legal marriage and remove lifetime binding contract (among other things) and ... you essentially have no marriage contract that resembles religious matrimony but with similar provisions/protections.
I also don't believe a couple who has a marriage that resembles religious matrimony should have privileges (estate tax exemption in this case) that other couples that do not resemble religious matrimony. You either tax all estates or tax none.
Elimination of "marriage" would mean that the person named as your beneficiary doesn't need to be someone of the opposite gender (in most states), can be anyone relationship wise (even just a friend or relative), and can be married to someone else (or single). It would also be (as the OP suggested) a non-lifetime-binding contract.
That's not the same system we have today and the implications is far reaching than simply omitting terms.
You can certainly name anyone you please, of any gender, any marital status, any relationship to you, etc, right now. Your estate does not escape tax, though.
What reason do you have to assume that absent legal marriage, this same ability would continue to exist, but you can now name the person of your choosing as the one person with a special status?
I'm not religious. However, I think in 50 years it will still be relevant. I am just a believer of separation of church and state as well as letting people pursue happiness as they see it.
I completely agree. However, I don't view legal marriage as something religious, and thus something which violates the beloved principal of separation of church and state.
You can certainly name anyone you please, of any gender, any marital status, any relationship to you, etc, right now. Your estate does not escape tax, though.
That's kinda my point. Why make exception to those that fit/live the traditional definition of religious marriage be given special privileges.
Quote:
What reason do you have to assume that absent legal marriage, this same ability would continue to exist, but you can now name the person of your choosing as the one person with a special status?
I have no reason to... that's why absent of legal marriage there would need to be a framework of laws to protect the beneficiaries. Separation of church and state... protect the individuals not the religious institution.
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