Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
In case one of you winds up in the hospital and needs the other to make medical decisions. A power of attorney can cover that--unless the family contests it. Contesting marriage rights is a lot harder.
Also, in case one of you gets killed and the other wants to sue for damages (the reason I'm now married; the man I'd lived with for 6 years & had a child with was not my husband when he died, so I had no right to sue for medical malpractice).
If either of you is accused of a crime, you can be forced to testify against each other unless you're married. (When this comes up, usually someone says "well, if you're innocent, you shouldn't care if you have to testify." This is almost always someone who's never been in a courtroom.)
There's other things. They don't matter to everyone, aren't relevant to every relationship. But marriage comes with a huge swarm of legal features other than automatic inheritance and tax status.
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The laws are different here - we have been together over three years, we are "married" and have the same status.