The big W word....

[MissBooBoo]

I have been with MrBooBoo for 9 years now... we have two children together and he is wanting us to plan our third. However, in this whole time he has not asked my hand in marriage. 4 years ago he gave me a bracelet (before we had children) with charms on it, one of them being a ring to let me know that marriage was just around the corner. Well it's been a long bloody corner... then I got pregnant... had 3 miscarriages inbetween and then I had my boy. He really wanted a son and said that he would literally get down on one knee straight away if I gave him a son... my son was born 10 months ago and still no ring has arrived. I have tried to be patient, I have explained to him how important marriage is to me, I have not mentioned the word WEDDING in months to see if that was the problem and he says he wants to get married but no ring materialises.. now he is talking about having another baby. I am 34 so I dont have time to mess around if we do want another one...
We arent the type of couple of just go to a registry office either, we would want a traditional wedding
Am I joking myself over this? How can I speed up the process?

Would I be right in saying that they aren't each others' next of kin either?

Or can that be established in a will?

There are instances when the list of who is your next of kin is defined; most notably is the Mental Health Act which lists a person's next of kin as follows:

Husband or Wife
Son or Daughter
Father or Mother
Brother or Sister
Grandparent
Grandchild
Uncle or Aunt
Nephew or niece

However, in almost all circumstances there will be no need to follow this list since next of kin will simply be the person who you would like to be contacted in case of emergency on your behalf.

There are some cases where not being defined as a "next of kin" could cause problems. A common example would be when two partners are cohabiting but are not married.

If one of them has an accident and is placed in hospital and the other partner is not recorded as an emergency contact, the hospital could classify the non-injured partner as not being next of kin and, therefore, possibly not allow them to visit the hospital bed.

In recent years there are more and more people who choose not to get married, or certainly do not marry early; therefore, the potential for this scenario, whereby one cohabit is deemed not to be the next of kin, has risen. However, most hospitals are aware of this trend and will not prevent a partner from visiting simply because they are not strictly recognised as next of kin.

4 years ago he gave me a bracelet (before we had children) with charms on it, one of them being a ring to let me know that marriage was just around the corner 4 years ago!

said that he would literally get down on one knee straight away if I gave him a son 10 months ago!

NOW it is when you have a third child. What if you never have a third child?

His actions speak a lot louder than words. His kids are protected, his property is protected.

You have nothing and no protection.

To answer your OP are you joking yourself? Yes completely and utterly.

As I said upthread - if there wasn't a will, his children would be his next of kin. As there is a will, he can leave to who the heck he likes.