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A Ketubah in Aramaic, a Jewish marriage-contract outlining the duties of each partner

A marriage, by definition, bestows rights and obligations on the married parties, and sometimes on relatives as well, being the sole mechanism for the creation of affinal ties (in-laws). These may include:

• Giving a husband/wife or his/her family control over a spouse’s labor, and property.
• Giving a husband/wife responsibility for a spouse’s debts.
• Giving a husband/wife visitation rights when his/her spouse is incarcerated or hospitalized.
• Giving a husband/wife control over his/her spouse’s affairs when the spouse is incapacitated.
• Establishing the second legal guardian of a parent’s child.
• Establishing a joint fund of property for the benefit of children.
• Establishing a relationship between the families of the spouses.

These rights and obligations vary considerably between societies, and between groups within society. [ 1 ]

In medieval Europe, marriage came under the jurisdiction of canon law, which recognized as a valid marriage one where the parties stated that they took one another as wife and husband, even in absence of any witnesses.

The Council of Trent (convened 1545–1563) ruled that in future a marriage was only valid in Roman Catholic countries if it was witnessed by a priest of the Roman Catholic Church or, if obtaining a priest were impractical, by other witnesses. This ruling was not accepted in the newly Protestant nations of Europe, nor by Protestants who lived in Roman Catholic countries or their colonies in the Americas or elsewhere, nor by Eastern Orthodox Christians .

Common-law marriages were abolished in England and Wales by the Marriage Act 1753. The Act required marriages to be performed by a priest of the Church of England – unless the participants in the marriage were Jews or Quakers. The Act applied to Ireland after the Act of Union 1800. but the requirement for a valid marriage to be performed by a Church of England priest created special problems in predominantly Roman Catholic Ireland. The law did not provide an exception. The Act did not apply to Scotland because by the Acts of Union 1707 Scotland retained its own legal system. To get around the requirements of the Marriage Act, such as minimum-age requirements, couples would go to Gretna Green. in southern Scotland, to get married under Scots law.

The Marriage Act of 1753 also did not apply to Britain's overseas colonies of the time, so common-law marriages continued to be recognized in the future United States and Canada. In the United States, common-law marriages are still recognized in Alabama. Colorado. Iowa. Kansas. Montana. Rhode Island. South Carolina. Texas. Utah and the District of Columbia. [ 2 ] and in several Canadian provinces.

All countries in Europe have now abolished "marriage by habit and repute", with Scotland being the last to do so in 2006. [ 3 ]

Australia has recognised de facto relationships since the Family Law act of . [ 4 ]

Marriage is an institution that is historically filled with restrictions. From age, to gender, to social status, restrictions are placed on marriage by society.

The minimum age at which a person is able to lawfully marry, and whether parental or other consents are required, vary from country to country.

In England and Wales the general age at which a person may marry is 18, but 16- or 17-year-olds may get married with their parents' or guardians' consent. If they are unable to obtain this, they can gain consent from the courts, which may be granted by the Magistrates' Courts, or the County or High Court family divisions.

Legal. social. and religious restrictions apply in all countries on the genders of the couple.

In response to changing social and political attitudes, some jurisdictions and religious denominations now recognize marriages between people of the same sex. In some jurisdictions these are sometimes called "civil unions " or "domestic partnerships ", while some others explicitly prohibit same-sex marriages .

In 1989, Denmark became the first country in the modern era to extend the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples under the name of registered partnership [citation needed ]. As of [update]. ten countries have come to recognise same-sex marriages for civil purposes, namely the Netherlands. Belgium. Spain. Canada. South Africa. Norway. Sweden. Portugal. Iceland and Argentina. To avoid the use of the term "marriage", some governments provide civil unions, which are open to couples of the same sex, and in some jurisdictions also to those of opposite sexes who do not want to marry, to confer all or a portion of the benefits of married status [citation needed ]. Civil unions (and registered/domestic partnerships) are currently recognized and accepted in approximately 30 out of 193 countries worldwide and in some U.S. states [citation needed ]. However, in countries where it has been adopted, applications for marriage licenses have far exceeded governmental estimates of demand. [ 5 ] Some jurisdictions, such as the nations of Israel. Aruba. and the Netherlands Antilles. as well as the U.S. states of New Mexico. and Rhode Island. recognize same-sex marriages lawfully entered into elsewhere, while not permitting them to be performed locally. [citation needed ]

In addition to civil authorities, some religious denominations ceremonially perform civil unions and same-sex marriages, and recognize them as essentially equivalent to other marriages. For example, Lutheran churches in Netherlands. New Zealand. Sweden and some Lutheran churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany allow blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples, as do Unitarian Universalist churches. [citation needed ]

California: On Feb. 7, , the federal appeals court Tuesday,ruled California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The court cited that the ban only "lessen[ed] the status and human dignity" of homosexuals. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/MCT) California originally passed what is known as 'Prop 8' allowing same-sex marriage, on June 16, . Four months later, on November 4, , voters overturned the ruling, amending the state constitution and revoking the right of same-sex couples to marry. [ 8 ]

In nine other U.S. regions, including Vermont. Maine. New Jersey. and the District of Columbia. civil unions or domestic partnerships are available to couples of the same sex, often carrying the same entailments as marriage, under a different name. However, these apply only to benefits under state law, and are not recognized by other states (with a few exceptions) or the U.S. federal government.

In Australia. de facto relationships are legally recognized in many, but not all, ways, [ 9 ] [ 10 ] with some states having registers of de facto relationships, although the federal government has amended existing legislation to specify that only marriages between a man and a woman will be recognized as "marriages". [ 11 ] As a result, the Australian Capital Territory 's 2006 Bill to give civil unions identical status and processes as registered marriages, was repealed by the federal government before it came into effect.

These developments have created a political and religious reaction in some countries, including in England. where the Church of England. after long debate, officially banned blessings of gay couples by Church of England clergy, [ 12 ] and in the United States. In contrast to the three above-mentioned U.S. states where the state constitutions have been found by courts to require equivalent marriage for same-sex couples, several states have specifically defined marriage as between a man and a woman, often after popular referenda. including the state of Mississippi which passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman and refusing to recognize same-sex marriages from other states with 86% of the vote supporting that proposition. [1] PDF (29.9 KiB ) Federally, the U.S. Congress has considered, but failed to pass, a Federal Marriage Amendment. In addition, while Lutheran churches in some countries allow blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples, as stated previously, in other countries (like Finland ) such ceremonies are discouraged and rarely performed by the church. [citation needed ]