Marriage and other family units 2 Flashcards
What are the one of the earlier definitions and the ones you should use?
Hyde v Hyde and Woodhouse (1866) - even though it is out of date it defines marriage
What is the hyde definition?
‘the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others
what case is different and hyde?
Bellinger v Bellinger [2001]
what is the difference between the two shortly?
Hyde v hyde= man and woman
Bellinger- definite absence of mention of parties/ sex
what us the 2004 definition from?
Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza
What is the issue with Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza?
it is now out of date because we now have same sex rels, marriage is something u formally get into and formally bring to an end.
stats about marriage if its more popular than it used to be? & disadvantages of stats?
- Marriage is still important- 1 marriage every 2 mins -2012
- Marriage is still pop -5.3% increase people getting married in 2012 compared to 2011
- many going for non relig ceremony so office etc stately home - 70% civil marriage 2012
- 2nd marriages are very popular, people not getting married to late 30’s more uni people etc people want to be established first ,
- Been a rise in older people getting married- partly to do with protection of pension
– people getting married in England wales, stats ignore those that are getting married abroad, no need to register if married abroad, many ppl go abroad noawadays
- gives the impression that marriage is at the heart of family life, underpins society and rubbish bc what acutally is at the heart is children
- Stats tell us marriage is strong but don’t tell us why people want to get married
- marriage means diff things to different people, so depending on cultutal back u might have diff view on what marriage means
- Breakdown of marriage - there is no such thing as a common law wife, cant get things if cohab. There is a body that feels we should treat those who are living together as though they are married and there is a cohab rights bill,
- People now getting married later another one is rise in cohab- rise in cohab and with children too.
what are the forms we will be talking about?
civil partnerships, marriage, cohabs
when did the civil partnership act come into force?
civil partnership act 2004 ( in force 2005)
what happened with couples since 2006 with same sex couples?
same sex couples ONLY are allowed to enter into civil same sex couples only
Why did same sex couples enter into civil?
immensely popular as it was the only way formalising same sex relationships
What do you get if formed civil with either your husband or your wife?
certain legal rights- almost same rights as marriage
what can you still have?
you can still have civil it is good law you simply go through ceremony and u sign civil partnership document, and that document has legal signatures,
what documents do you sign thru marriage compared to civil?
so you can only get married if you signed a marriage certificate, here u sign civil partnerships doc
stat for 1st month?
month-1,857 (really pop) formed and over 10 day period,
when was there a drop?
drop in 2015 bc of marriage same sex couple act- so civil less important, some still might do civil as feel marriage is religious
marrige cermonies and civil cermonies?
marriage can either be religious and civil ceremony, civil only civil ceremony
what do civil part have the same as marriages?
same formalities of entering into marriage,
- not aloud to be brother/sisiter must be 18
- must be sound mind etc
- non rel ceremony only,
- cant be civil part anywhere so have to use an approved venue, quite regulated
- cant enter into civil part if unde 16 already married or in a civil part already, prohibited degrees, so not aloud to marry your autns uncles etc (this is talking about how they work)
what act is for same sex marriages?
Marriage (Same-Sex) Couples Act 2013
what is s1 of the act saying?
Extension of marriage to same sex couples, marriage of same sex couples lawful
when did the first marriage take place?
29th march 2014= civil can convert to marriage
stats for same sex marriages?
- 10th December 2014 CPs can convert their CP to a marriage
- 7,366 marriages between 29th March 2014 and 30th June 2015
55% (4,059) – female couples
45% (3,307) – male couples
what can same sex marriages not be?
cant be a religious ceremony bc hyde v hyde- something called quadruple block which makes it not rel.
what are same sex marriages and opp not much diff?
Not much diff apart from voidability of your marriage- void/voidable
what does the law essentially ignore when it comes to this?
essentially the law ignores the sexual element of same sex marriages, so whether void/voidable ignore anything to do with the sex.
is cohabitation on the rise?
is cohab on rise yes it is,
stats for cohab?
- 2015 there were 3.1m opposite sex cohabiting couples
- there are 90,000 same sex make around 17% of all the families in the uk. cos alot have children
- nearly 1/5 of pop cohab. 41%= opp sex= child, 3% - same
what happens with the longer u cohab?
less likely to get married, usually longer, poorer & less academically qualified.
what should a cohab couple do?
Unless cohab make special provisions, law treat it as: 2 individual people sharing house= implication on breakdown.
difference between marriage and cohab with finances?
marriage= all finances look togev, you combine all assets cohabit= seperate, no common law marriage, may have rights but in land law than marital obligation
what are lone parents?
if lone part laws on divorce, financial orders dont really affect you, child protection and dv might do
stats on lone parents?
- 2015- nearly 2 mill lone parents w depedant children, in 1996- 1.6 mill
- increase of around 81,000 btw 2005, 2015
- lone parents with dependant children rep 25% of all families with dependant children in 2015.
stats of lone parents men and women?
90% of lone parents = female
10%=male
=may be that refelctive on rise of divorce
when do u ignore lone parents in exam?
q on divorce or financial orders not lone parents - theyre not a section of society u should ignore.
stats on single person households?
2015 – 7.7 people living alone
58% are male
what do the stats on single person show us?
Evidence on divorce men less likely to get remarried, those stats go into depth about age of male
what about step families?
There are a large number of step-families
Issue with stepfamiles?
Consideration needs to be given to the financial responsibility of the ‘new’ partner to stepchildren.- talk about this with financial orders- is it new fam obligation or old?- law doesn’t allow to not look after old. cant replace old w new.
Note about gender assignment?
you are allowed to marry and remarry in new sex, not allowing this is breach of article 12 of the convention
Purpose of the gender recognition act 2004?
This allows to marry in new sex..
summary of this?
most people are either married, cohab or civil part- key points you need to think about individually when piut them together:
- ending rels
- financial orders
- married/unmarried fathers
- death
- tax implications
Ending rels?
Only end civil & marriage & marriage w court order if cohab can simply move out. No formalities w cohab
Financial orders?
Marriage and Civil can make financial orders, cohab = no powers in fam but does in land
Married/unmarried fathers?
married to mother at time= automatic parental responsibility
Death?
Die w will= estate goes to wife but cohab and die not right to nothing
Tax implications?
if married you can get capital gains tax and inhertance tax relief but if cohab= no.
difference with civil , m and c?
civil and m = formulated but if cohab= no legal safeguards!
