[slickpoppa]

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but only because I don't think the government should be involved in ANY marriages.

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So what happens when a "married" man dies without a will. How is it determined that his wife gets his property without the government recognizing their marriage? Or what if a man is being tried for a crime in a court and the prosecutor want to call his wife to the stand. Should the marriage privilege not apply because the state doesn't recognize marriages.

Saying that the government should not be involved in marriages is not as easy a solution as it sounds. The fact is that there are so many legal implications of being married (many of which most people agree with, like the right to inherit a spouse's property, etc.) that the government cannot simply divorce itself (pun intended) from the marriage business.