You Have to Know This About Marriage!

Background:

Marriages are found throughout history, in every type of society. The marriage contract has been utilized for many purposes. However, the rate of marriage and divorcesame sex couples

Purpose:

For many, the purpose of marriage is to establish a family. Often, that includes procreation or adoption.

History:

In the past, marriage was utilized by families as a way to achieve a higher social standing, either by marrying someone of a higher class, or by receiving financial incentives. In fact, royalty often married other members of their families in order to continue the strength and stability of that family line. To this day, many royal families only allow marriages between members of royal families. In general however, the marriage now takes place between individuals from otherwise unconnected families.

The purpose of many marriages has been to strengthen and enlarge a family unit, while maintaining or increasing social standing. Throughout history, the acceptable purpose of marriage has shifted in accordance with societal and individual expectations. In recent history, many people have held that marriage is meant to reinforce a relationship bond based on love and mutual respect, and that the relationship is affirmed through a wedding ceremony. In some cases, marriage ceremonies are a private event, while in others the ceremony is a public celebration. In either case, the purpose of the ceremony was to affirm the relationship and to enjoy the support of family and friends. The essence of marriage has not changed much throughout history. Marriage was and remains a relationship between two individuals.

Rights and Obligations:

Marriages grant many rights and responsibilities that are not generally conferred by other relationships. In fact, many state laws prohibit the conferment of those rights on any relationships other than a marriage between one man and one woman. The reason that marriages receive unique consideration in the eyes of the law is to encourage more couples to take part in the marriage contractRestrictions:

Currently, the United State's government allows each individual state to enact their own marriage laws. However, there are some federal restrictions on marriage. For example, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, has been enacted by many states in order to forbid same sex marriage. Yet, some states have avoided enacting that restriction, and do indeed allow same sex marriage.

Although, same sex married couples are not entitled to receive any federal rights or responsibilities conferred on marriage, they can enjoy rights conferred by states that recognize their marriage. The restrictions on federal rights are due to the federal governments refusal to legally recognize same sex marriages. A restriction on same sex marriage is just one of many restrictions placed on marriages. In addition to gender restrictions, many states have age limits