Marriages would be strictly private ceremonies performed by religious and other private organizations. Within broad limits ‘Marriage’ granting organizations would be free to choose whatever rules they deem fit for a marriage conducted under their auspices. The Government would not be asked to endorse any particular class of relationship by conferring on it the term ‘Marriage’, as marriage is NOT in its purview. To the Government, Marriage or Civil Union should be equally valid and be recognized only once duly registered.

If this seems too radical for the present times, then the Government could make the ‘Civil Union’ / ‘Contractual Arrangement’ available to both opposite – sex and same-sex couples and let ‘Marriage’ be a purely religious ceremony which would derive additional recognition from that religious group on that basis. However, since Registration of Birth and Death is already universally acceptable, Registration of Marriage / Civil union should not really be objected to once people understand the necessity.

Even today ‘Marriage’ is no more and no less than a recognition of a status created by the State and accompanied by Government entitlements and mandates according immense material benefits, economic and non-economic, some of which are given below:

1. Tax benefits – In some Nations, the Tax system offers big rewards to many couples as a result of Marriage.
2. Entitlements – Which offer benefits to Married Couples through a number of entitlement programmes. Family and Medical leaves etc.
3. Inheritance and Other Death benefits.
4. Ownership benefits. Surviving Spouses may have automatic ownership rights on the deceased spouse’s property.
5. Surrogate decision making in the event of a spouses’ incapacitation.
6. Evidentiary privileges, including right to keep marital communications confidential and exclude adverse spousal testimony.

The benefits also, tend to be fairly stable over time as a status quo is powerful and there are sharp political constraints on any effort to rethink it. Crucially, many Nations explicitly link these material rights and obligations to the symbolic and expressive benefits associated with the status of Marriage. For many people, these symbolic and expressive benefits are much of what it means to be married. But the fact is that without the recognition from the State that accords it a legal status, it lacks a sort of validation, a stamp of approval, even if it has the support and validation of a religious tradition which could perhaps provide these symbolic and expressive benefits in a more satisfying manner.

This is because originally the State encouraged the institution of Marriage as providing a binding commitment for long lasting (sexual) relationship allowing for a stable atmosphere for the proper care and bringing up of the Children there of. But today, much longer life spans, diversity of cultures and religions and, when child rearing can even be undertaken by Singles, allow people to seek to get into relationships of their choosing and opt out as and when they deem fit, subject to the judgments of Courts and Private Authorities, religious or otherwise.

Ofcourse, opting out or divorce should never be an easy process as it effects the value of the commitment to the Civil union or marriage itself and to the children there- of.

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