So, I've been wondering. What's marriage? "Blah blah blah, bond of love". I don't believe in that crap. What is marriage legally? How would it actually benefit anyone? etc. Considering a wedding costs (at average (googled)) in the upper 20,000's, I can't see how it would be at all beneficial to get married.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 27 2011, 6:16 pm by Artanis186.

You should check out this topic: http://www.staredit.net/topic/13382/ , I think your topic is going to end up like it.

I think my questions are a bit different from theirs. I don't want any kind of answers involving religion. I'm looking to find out literal positives and negative of getting married.

Personally I see marriage entirely as a religious institution. The government taxes you a bit differently if you're married, and if you're on welfare that changes to include your spouse's income. Most benefits require you to be married in order for your spouse to be under the same policy.

Unfortunately that probably wont happen. Marriage is religious by nature, and because of the union, the U.S. government will give you certain tax breaks and perks. Other smaller perks exist, as well. I know of some hospital policies, for example, that refuse entry to see a patient immediately unless you are part of his or her immediate family. This includes being a husband or wife, but excludes being a boyfriend or girlfriend. Speaking of medical issues, a lot of policies allow you to cover a husband or wife as well. Getting married also allows your significant other to be your default power of attorney, in case an accident occurs and you need someone to make decisions as you're incapacitated. Death benefits and inheritance are easier to manage if you're married, as well. Let's say you are in a relationship with a woman and she dies, leaving you everything in your will. If you are married, you will get everything without contest. If you are not married, then a blood relative or other can contest the will, and it is possible that you wont be granted everything. It is a common misconception that everything willed to a specific person is automatically given to that person without the possibility of protest.

People get married for all sorts of reasons. Some want to be committed to each other with a binding agreement. Some want to take advantage of the tax breaks and whatnot. Some think it is the right thing to do in the eyes of God.

If your a guy, you don't ever have to make a sandwich again.
If your a girl, you've got someone to do all the yardwork.
For both, you no longer have to worry about what you look like.

1. Marriage, legally speaking, is a legal contract that binds you to another person which allows you to receive the tax deductions and other benefits that comes with it.

2. Marriage, as already said in the previous answer, can benefit you with tax deductions and stuff like that which unmarried couples do not receive. A second way of looking at the benefits of marriage is to consider its implications. It implies that you are willing to stay with the person you are marrying for the rest of your life and that you will not be involved with another person until only a few certain circumstances arise like abuse, death, or unfaithfulness. Being married is also beneficial for off-spring, as it gives a good model of how to stay committed to another person through both the good and bad.

3. You don't have to have a fancy wedding if you don't want to pay that much for it. If your future wife wants an expensive wedding, maybe try and get her to compromise some things.
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Yes, many marriages around the world do end up in divorce, but that doesn't mean marriage does more harm than good. You just have to take that chance.

Overall, it's usually better to get married rather than to continue being the boyfriend/girlfriend of another person for the rest of your life. Getting married shows that you are mature enough to handle the responsibilites of caring for another person other than yourself and to commit to whoever you decide to marry for life. To me, it just is a part of growing up.

Alright, good to know there are some benefits. I'm not sure the benefit would out-weigh the costs though. Not from my perspective, at least.


Fortunately for me, I don't really care how people view me.

But you're still assuming that all weddings are tens of thousands of dollars. You can do a civil union and it would work garner the same benefits but cost a significantly less amount of money. You could aslo have a wedding in your back yard for next to nothing.

I suppose that's true. I likely wont have to worry about any of that kind of stuff, though. I'm just curious about it for knowledge's sake.

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/11/30/the-case-for-marriage/

My parents did a civil union. As far as I know, it did not cost much, like Devlin's saying.

Good video. Thought it might be somewhat related to this topic

Marriage breeds superior children.

16 minutes? But I only have an attention span of 2 minutes. Summary please!

MA is really in touch with indie asian cinema

That video is a good summary of relationship stages but I don't know if it makes a good case for marriage, because the same stages happen in marriage, the difference being that maybe people resign themselves to flipping between the "comfortable" and "tolerance" stages for the sake of staying together.

I didn't keep a load of stuff from ex relationships like that guy did in a box. I do have a bunch of archived emails though, so I guess there are a few memories I've been holding on to as well.

I can name five people right now that I think should read that article.

Even now I haven't fully watched that video; I stopped at the beginning of the "Comfortable" stage. I still think Wongfu's best and most life changing video was "Yellow Fever."

The first 2 minutes of that video makes me hate women. Really well made video, though.

Also, LOL OF COURSE, ASIANS EATING PINKBERRY