2011-01-18, 03:01 PM
@Fiel: There's a third kind of marriage, partially bridgeing the gap. I believe the English term is "common-law marriage". In Hebrew we call it "publicly known [as married]". It's where two people just move in together and live in one household, sometimes raising children and so on, and "everyone knows" they are a family unit, even though they never got married, either by clergy or by clerk. (Humans being complicated, the opposite also exists: people who are still formally married but have, in fact, parted ways).
When such things go to court, it's sometimes debated whether any given couple does indeed qualify for this odd status, which gives all or some rights and responsibilities of those formally married. Many gay couples have to resort to these things to get things like inheritance or child visitation rights. Needless to say that is a waste of the court's time and a lot of wear and tear on everyone's nerves and bank accounts. Things would be much simpler by just letting them register in City Hall.
When such things go to court, it's sometimes debated whether any given couple does indeed qualify for this odd status, which gives all or some rights and responsibilities of those formally married. Many gay couples have to resort to these things to get things like inheritance or child visitation rights. Needless to say that is a waste of the court's time and a lot of wear and tear on everyone's nerves and bank accounts. Things would be much simpler by just letting them register in City Hall.