A new definition of marriage
[T]he state could treat you as married if you had either had a child together or lived together for three years, and it could treat you as divorced if you had either “married” somebody else through the above-mentioned actions or lived apart for two years.
Now an Indian high court judge seems to have had the the same idea:
The court said that if a bachelor has completed 21 years of age and an unmarried woman 18 years, they have acquired the freedom of choice guaranteed by the Constitution. “Consequently, if any couple choose to consummate their sexual cravings, then that act becomes a total commitment with adherence to all consequences that may follow, except on certain exceptional considerations.
The court said marriage formalities as per various religious customs such as the tying of a mangalsutra, the exchange of garlands and rings or the registering of a marriage were only to comply with religious customs for the satisfaction of society.
This is brilliant! In a Scottish context, this would men that if two people are sixteen years old and have sex, they’re married.
It’s a beautiful simplification of marriage, but I do wonder when you divorce according to the Madras court — unless that’s automatic as well, lots of people will end up multiple bigamists!
This is essentially how marriage is defined in NZ de facto. It takes literally the UN commandment not to discriminate against someone based on marital status, which essentially means the abolition of marriage because it then becomes meaningless. So if you live with someone for 3 years, you are deemed in a ‘de facto’ relationship which is legally equivalent to marriage. If you *are* married, and separate for 2 years, then you can get a ‘dissolution’ of your marriage by rolling up to the family court, filling in a form, and handing over $120.
Personally, I think people who have made a positive public lifelong commitment to each other and to their future children *should* be discriminated in favour of but I suspect this is very much a minority view.
Interesting. Denmark is a bit more old-fashioned: Anna only became a Danish citizen when Phyllis and I married.