If you truly love your partner, does a ring and a ceremony really do anything?

I know there are certain legal situations where an official marriage changes who has certain rights, but aren’t those same rights available if you make other legally-official decisions E.G. a will or trusts, etc?

I’m generally curious why people get married beyond the “because I love them” when it costs so much money.

  • Vinny_93@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I didn’t get married for the love or the religious reasons, it’s just way easier when you buy a house together. Now, if I die, all my stuff automatically belongs to my wife.

    We got married on a Tuesday morning at the municipal building at 8:30 making it free. The only thing we spent money on was the rings.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      What town is this where everybody gets free Tuesday morning weddings?

      Not that I need another one, it just seems to be happening a lot in here

        • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          I seem to recall paying a fee. Looking it up online on the website, it would cost $80 today in the county where we got the license.

      • Vinny_93@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        This was Meppel but every municipality in the Netherlands has a free marriage half hour. It varies what day it is but it’ll usually be early morning.

      • trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Most municipalities in the Netherlands have one morning per week for free marriages. Not always tuesday though.

    • Noerknhar@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      That actually depends on the country. In Germany, as an example, it doesn’t automatically go to your wife - you still have to declare that in your will.

      • Vinny_93@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        We have the option. If you get married you can get married in ‘(beperkte) gemeenschap van goederen’, which means ‘what’s mine is yours’. Caveat is that anything you owned before you got married will not be taken into account.

        Then there’s ‘huwelijkse voorwaarden’ which means ‘what’s mine is mine’.

        • Noerknhar@feddit.org
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          1 day ago

          Same here, but for us, it is a common misconception that this also is for when one dies. Crazy system if you ask me because totally unintuitive.