[extropy-chat] Gay marriage in Spain, a world of change

[BillK]

On 7/23/05, Robbie Lindauer wrote:
> 
> There are LLP's.  Marriages are, in many ways, like LLP's, in other
> ways like LLC's, in other ways like sole proprietorships, in some ways
> like a slavery arrangement sometimes.  The absurd example given before
> by someone else isn't so absurd.  The paperwork that would have to be
> created (and therefore understood to be something other than fraud) by
> the various parties would be so extensive as to make a marriage a near
> impossibility.  If someone could understand the paperwork involved,
> they probably simply wouldn't do it.
> 


If ordinary people had to understand all of marriage law and divorce
law then they simply wouldn't do it.

Marriage was designed for rich families to combine estates and keep
their families getting richer and richer through the generations.

The law still applies to poor people. Poor people can get married and
divorced easily because they have no assets, so there is nothing for
them to argue over and nothing to pay the lawyers.

But if you are reasonably well-off, then you will find out all about
marriage and divorce law when you have to fight your way through a
two-year long contested divorce action.

If both partners are 'equal' in the sense of equal incomes and
bringing equal assets into the marriage, then an equal split of the
marriage assets can be arranged at reasonable cost.

But, as seen in celebrity divorces, marriage can be a method for a
starlet with little income or property to enter the millionaire class.
It does work as well for 'toy boys' nowadays, though it is less
common. Lower down the scale, marriage law gives an income and asset
poor partner a big claim  to acquire a lot (often up to half) of the
income and assets of the richer partner.


BillK