06-21-2003, 10:57 PM
Hi,
Again, I stress that there are multiple aspects of "marriage". For the purpose of hospital visitation, the important one is social. I suspect a simple declaration of marriage was sufficient for the hospital. I doubt that they requested to see her marriage license. Indeed, even if no marriage license existed, in most places a simple declaration of marriage is enough in common law (hence, "common law marriage").
Now, your answer is "Family". Fine. Now define "Family" in a way that is independently testable for access by employers and governments. A way that is inclusive enough to include your brother in law and his wife and exclusive enough to eliminate a pair of roommates that have figured a cheap way to get the unemployed one health insurance. A way that can be tested by simple observation.
What makes a marriage? Family. What makes a family? Love. What is love?
Sorry, "I know it when I see it" cannot be the basis for legal definition.
--Pete
Again, I stress that there are multiple aspects of "marriage". For the purpose of hospital visitation, the important one is social. I suspect a simple declaration of marriage was sufficient for the hospital. I doubt that they requested to see her marriage license. Indeed, even if no marriage license existed, in most places a simple declaration of marriage is enough in common law (hence, "common law marriage").
Now, your answer is "Family". Fine. Now define "Family" in a way that is independently testable for access by employers and governments. A way that is inclusive enough to include your brother in law and his wife and exclusive enough to eliminate a pair of roommates that have figured a cheap way to get the unemployed one health insurance. A way that can be tested by simple observation.
What makes a marriage? Family. What makes a family? Love. What is love?
Sorry, "I know it when I see it" cannot be the basis for legal definition.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?