Emotions and religion aside, what are the actual benefits of marriage to a woman in modern life?

[Jaybird100]

Emotions and religion aside, what are the actual benefits of marriage to a woman in modern life?

In terms of having children, buying properties 50:50, etc etc. Mainly wanting to know the financial benefits for either the child (in case of a split) and general e.g marriage tax etc

I don't believe there's enormous difference directly for children, since maintenance is due to paternity whether married or not. Think there's an 'assumption of paternity' when married, but testing would prove either way anyway.

For the adults (and hence indirectly the child) there are far more benefits.

Quite a few benefits around inheritance outlined here.

Also pension, which is particularly important if one of you reduces/gives up work to bring up kids. If your partner dies before you, then a surviving spouse is often entitled to some of their pension, but an unmarried partner is not.

Common-law spouse doesn't exist for these financial /legal protections. You have to be actually married or in a civil partnership.

This blog sums it up fairly accurately:

www.nomipalony.com/why-we-decided-to-get-married-after-11-years-and-are-doing-it-in-a-month/?fbclid=IwAR0XxMKJKGoiqjcJppc2EJJ1CrpJKQGJ1KZ7mYxW3j5pSaBVykmUUS2YT6Y

It basically boils it down to financial protection should anything happen to either of you.

If you own a house (or flat in the South) then the inheritance tax advantages are significant.

If you’re planning to downgrade your career to care for children then it can also protect your financial position in the event of a breakup.

Financial protection if you step back from your career after kids.

If your estate is over £325k inheritance tax spousal exemption

For me, it was immigration rights. Having children who are British doesn’t necessarily give you the right to live in the same country as them. Being married definitely speeds up the process and makes everything a lot less complicated in terms of settlement and naturalisation.

if a woman is going to reduce her earning power in any way in connection with childbearing or childrearing (even just having maternity leave before returning to work) then she benefits from the protection of marriage. marriage ties two people's financial stability together. if they stay together forever then it has virtually no effect except being each other's next of kin when the worst comes to the worst.

but if they break up, then the one with the lesser earning power is slightly less screwed than if they weren't married - until it stops being significantly more likely for the person in that situation to be a woman not a man, this will remain a significant women's issue.

Another consideration is who do you want to be your legal next of kin, who would follow through with your issues around end of life etc.

Even sorting out bank accounts, wills, finances etc are simpler if you are married/CP.

Whilst in the relationship, financially it protects the lower earner.

It gives a lot of financial protection with a single piece of paper that, outside of marriage, would take a certain amount of effort and numerous agreements, deeds etc to achieve. The Law still offers a spouse (or civil partner) protections that simply do not exist where a couple simply live together.

At less than £200 for a simple wedding or civil partnership, it is a very cost effective way of protecting your financial rights. Yes, you could draw up a contract to achieve a similar outcome but it may be more complex and more expensive to do so.