Marriage & Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marriage & Family - Essay Example By the 19th century, it relaxed its ruling, accepting public cohabitation as sufficient excuse for the validity of a marriage. However, later in that century, the US again took an active role in controlling who was allowed to marry who, with certain populations prohibited from marrying. Marriage licences were requirements in the provision of certain federal benefits and privileges for legal dependents. For example, in distributing benefits to employees’ children such as medical insurance, the employees should first present marriage licenses as proof that their children were legally their own. The same goes for inheriting properties from partners. Spouses should be able to present a marriage license in order to claim inheritance from their deceased husbands/ wives. That meant that illegitimate children did not have a claim to their parents’ resources simply because they were borne out of wedlock. Nowadays, due to strong advocacy for children’s rights, a marriage l icense no longer has the power to strip â€Å"illegitimate† spouses and children from claiming their rights to an inheritance. This way, the government accedes to the reality that everyone should be given what is due them with or without the proof of a marriage license. Coontz’ claims that people need the state’s permission to marry may be easily interpreted as the state having authority over who a citizen should marry. In a sense, there is value in that, as it serves as protection for individuals who are not aware that the person they are marrying may already be married, hence, leaving him or her to be a second priority or an illegitimate spouse. One should be ensured that his or her marriage is valid or legal under the law to be protected of his or her marital rights. Being licitly married means being permitted by society, and not forbidden. It is possible to have a valid but not licit marriage. One example is a marriage between a legally married black