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In reply to the discussion: The gay marriage decision has put us in uncharted waters with regard to polygamy [View all]booley
(3,855 posts)I am sure someone else may have already brought this up but when asked about multiple person marriage, the pro gay marriage side summed it up
Allowing multiple person marriage would require a complete over haul and redesign of our legal system which the states right now are incapable of doing.
Who gets custody if on partner dies? How doe inheritance work? Are all members of the marital unit immune from testifying against another member or is there some degree of separation? Who would have rights to make medical decisions for a partner that was incapacitated?
Contrast this with same sex marriage which was such an issue precisely because gay couples were left in limbo over these questions yet the only fix required was to simply make marriage gender neutral. States that legalized same sex unions only had to allow them. The legal infrastructure for everything else was already there. IF same sex marriage had the complications polygamy does you can bet that it wouldn't' have become legal so quickly.
Marriage isn't' just some blessing from the state. It's tied up with countless legal issues over one person's relationship to another.