Privatize Marriage?

[skylercollins]

Should the state get out of the business of licensing marriage? What about a system where marriage is strictly contractual on a private basis w/o benefits bestowed by government? Here's some reading to get the conversation started. I'll quote an excerpt, but I recommend reading the entire thing:

Cato.org's David Boaz - Privatize Marriage

So why not privatize marriage? Make it a private contract between two individuals. If they wanted to contract for a traditional breadwinner/homemaker setup, with specified rules for property and alimony in the event of divorce, they could do so. Less traditional couples could keep their assets separate and agree to share specified expenses. Those with assets to protect could sign prenuptial agreements that courts would respect. Marriage contracts could be as individually tailored as other contracts are in our diverse capitalist world. For those who wanted a standard one-size-fits-all contract, that would still be easy to obtain. Wal-Mart could sell books of marriage forms next to the standard rental forms. Couples would then be spared the surprise discovery that outsiders had changed their contract without warning. Individual churches, synagogues, and temples could make their own rules about which marriages they would bless.

I personally wouldn't have a problem with the government getting out of the marriage process other than through enforcing contract law.

[Captain_Curmudgeon]

I agree completely but you have to do one of two things at the same:

• Rid local, state, and federal laws of clauses that give legal or tax or other rights to married people (my choice). OR
• Grant all rights given by law to married people to the contracting people.

Has another nice feature that I like: the law already defines who can enter into a contract and who cannot. So, you can have same-sex contracts and polygamous contracts and group contracts but not contracts that involve children.

[Starfish]

I don't have the legal knowledge to give much of an opinion, except my gut instinct doesn't agree. I think marriage in its traditional form is GOOD for society as a whole, and therefore, the law should encourage and support it. Anytime you start messing with something, trying to change it, you will inevitably get UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, some harmless, some not.

I don't want to go the route of Europe or more specifically Sweden, where the marriage rate is declining.

If only our society could focus its efforts on encouraging things like morality, fidelity, honor, commitment, selflessness and just good, clean living. Rather than trying to tailor everything to the convenience and whims of individuals.

[BenRaines]

All I can say is "Maawwwaggge is what bwings us togetha".

Ben Raines

[Moksha]

• If Microsoft got into this, would everybody be okay with just leasing their marriage from them? If you paid a premium, could you get yearly upgrades?

• Might some Utah Entrepreneurs grant multiple licensing?

[Hemidakota]

Hopefully, Microsoft when building a new OS to the likes of Vista, would also get out of this business.

First, we need to get rid of the IRS and just tax everyone, no matter the income level.

[skylercollins]

I don't have the legal knowledge to give much of an opinion, except my gut instinct doesn't agree. I think marriage in its traditional form is GOOD for society as a whole, and therefore, the law should encourage and support it. Anytime you start messing with something, trying to change it, you will inevitably get UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, some harmless, some not.

I don't want to go the route of Europe or more specifically Sweden, where the marriage rate is declining.

If only our society could focus its efforts on encouraging things like morality, fidelity, honor, commitment, selflessness and just good, clean living. Rather than trying to tailor everything to the convenience and whims of individuals.

Those are very good points and I agree that "society" should encourage those things. But I don't think it follows that the government should be involved in any of that, especially morality. As I'm sure you know, the government doesn't have any resources of it's own to be involved in anything. What it has it must first take from the people through taxes (be directly, indirectly through inflation from printing more money, or to future generations through borrowing). Because of that, the state is (should be) restricted to only doing those things that citizens themselves can do. And since I can't force my morality on anyone, I can't give that authority to the government to do in my place. For one of my blog posts on that, see here.