Forms of marriage that exist in different states do not remain unchanged. As a rule, in any modern society it is customary to “legitimize” the relationship between a woman and a man who want to start a family, conduct a joint household and raise common children. The ceremony of marriage can be official when the newlyweds receive a certificate of registration at the registry office, and church, in which the union of two people is inconceivable without a religious ceremony.
History
Each nation has its own historical forms of marriage associated with certain national traditions and customs. The concept of a family in ancient Rome was associated with something holy, and marriage even then was a kind of legal contract between two people, moreover, a woman often made a decision on marriage taking into account the will of her parents.
In those days, various religious rituals, which were a prototype of the Christian wedding, were held to strengthen the union. On the other hand, in the Roman Empire, marriage registration was not limited to rituals, and officials drew up legal documents according to which children could subsequently inherit the property of their parents.
Already after the spread of Christianity in Byzantium, up to the XI century, there were two forms of marriage - a wedding in the church and the usual cohabitation. Moreover, the constant cohabitation of free women and men was equivalent to creating a family. Even without a church ceremony, marriage was considered valid if it lasted more than a year, various witnesses could confirm this fact, and documents were also available that the husband received the dowry from his wife’s parents. Only since the XI century, the wedding in the Byzantine Empire became the only form of official marriage.
Modernity
Today, the historical forms of family and marriage are a thing of the past, many couples in Europe and the post-Soviet states do not officially register their relationship at all, or are limited to a civil painting ceremony at the registry office. Cohabitation and holding a religious ceremony now no longer have legal force, so a couple needs to register their relationship officially in order to dispose of joint property and to obtain the right to inherit everything that belongs to their spouse. However, new varieties of unions between a man and a woman appeared, including open, temporary, guest, unequal and fictitious marriage.
So, some families even after the official "legitimization" of relations prefer to behave towards each other as guests. They live in different apartments, do not engage in joint farming and meet only on weekends or once a month. Open marriage provides for a mutual agreement that each spouse may optionally lead a sex life on the side, and such behavior will not be considered a betrayal.
In recent decades, unusual forms of marriage have appeared, including union between same-sex people and the official registration of the family after the death of one of the spouses. In some states, such varieties of formalizing relationships are recognized as valid, but in most countries of the world, same-sex marriage is considered illegal and not legal.
Posthumous registration is typical for situations when one of the future spouses suddenly dies before the wedding. This is necessary for the second party, which receives the status of a widowed person and can count on all payments or benefits due by law, except for the right to inherit the property of the deceased. All forms of marriage, despite their diversity, provide for the creation of a family of the free will of the newlyweds and their mutual consent to create another “unit of society”.
