SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated Wed, 10 Apr 2002  7:56:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET> writes:

>I know an unmarried, heterosexual couple who simply refer to each other as
>"my husband" and "my wife." They figure that's their social situation and
>their legal status is no one's business but their own.
>

However, they could find their legal status is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Some states (lawyers on this list can correct me) recognize "common-law marriage" which, so I understand, is an public declaration that a couple is married, followed by cohabitation.

I know a former couple who decided not to get legally married, but who when they split up had to go to divorce court (specifically for a visitation agreement about their daughter, who, now adult, still uses her father's surname).

Some other comments:

In the tabloids, if a woman has a boyfriend noticeably younger than herself, he is her "boytoy".

If the Governor-General of Canada is a (male) homosexual, then his, uh, partner becomes the "Queen's queen's queen".

      - Jim Landau