InsaneMystic
Member
Huh. Seems like big swathes of the US are - on paper, at least - half a century behind the sitch across the Big Pond.
Cohabitation, no matter how many people are involved, isn't a legal issue at all over here in Germany (with the exception of applying for welfare and similar social services; whoever lives with you in a "marriage-like arrangement" will have their income figured in to provide for the live-in partner just as a legal spouse would), and unless I'm much mistaken, hasn't been one since the 1960s. Later that decade, adultery has been fully decriminalized, and dropped as a reason to sue for divorce (we used to have a "guilt-based" model for divorces back then, which was abandoned for the current "irreconciliable differences" one; you thankfully no longer have to prove either party's "guilt in having made the marriage fail" in order to get divorced).
Legally marrying more than one person is still not possible, and is a criminal offense punishable by either a fine, or a jail sentence of up to three years.
Apparently, though (I didn't know this before checking, and I hope I'm getting it wrong, because it seems downright bizarre to me!) it's also not legal here to get married while you're living in a "marriage-like arrangement" with someone else. So, you can live together with as many partners as you want if you're unmarried, but if you then decide to marry one of them, you'll have to break up with all other partners first... only to be free to hook up and move in with as many partners you want again after getting married.
Like, whut.
Cohabitation, no matter how many people are involved, isn't a legal issue at all over here in Germany (with the exception of applying for welfare and similar social services; whoever lives with you in a "marriage-like arrangement" will have their income figured in to provide for the live-in partner just as a legal spouse would), and unless I'm much mistaken, hasn't been one since the 1960s. Later that decade, adultery has been fully decriminalized, and dropped as a reason to sue for divorce (we used to have a "guilt-based" model for divorces back then, which was abandoned for the current "irreconciliable differences" one; you thankfully no longer have to prove either party's "guilt in having made the marriage fail" in order to get divorced).
Legally marrying more than one person is still not possible, and is a criminal offense punishable by either a fine, or a jail sentence of up to three years.
Apparently, though (I didn't know this before checking, and I hope I'm getting it wrong, because it seems downright bizarre to me!) it's also not legal here to get married while you're living in a "marriage-like arrangement" with someone else. So, you can live together with as many partners as you want if you're unmarried, but if you then decide to marry one of them, you'll have to break up with all other partners first... only to be free to hook up and move in with as many partners you want again after getting married.
Like, whut.