Is getting married still worth it nowadays?

Makes a difference in terms of custody of kids in after a split. Check out father's rights.

Well the huge event is optional.

If cohabiting couples could get all the benefits of married ones I wouldn't see the point. Nothing is guaranteed.

I've no problems with civil ceremonies. In fact, they're usually better. Best wedding I was at was 20 odd of us at the Cork city registry for the 15 minute ceremony/signing. Then down to their favourite local restaurant for a 3 course meal, and finally onto the penthouse of the nearby hotel for the party. Such a relaxed and enjoyable afternoon/night.

I do have issues with religious ceremonies. Mainly because the two getting married probably never actually practice the religion. It's all for show. And costs so much. Also if I'm invited to a wedding and I accept, then they send a gift list... I wouldn't be long cancelling. I don't even give money at weddings, because its already cost me the bones of a few hundred to get the room and travel. If you just want money or a gift, don't invite me. Thankfully, most people I know are now married so only 1 wedding in the last 10 years, and I was a groomsman at that so had no choice.

As for the benefits, no idea. Just be sure, divorce rate is low at 13% (46% in not-so-Great Britain), but rising every year I believe.

So marriage may be worth it, but the religious ceremonies and ghastly expensive weddings are not.

Getting married is great. Both of you are the centre of attention, everyone is dressed up and there for a day out, mediocre food, dancing, pints, bit of gossip, residents bar for the hardcore. Well worth it.

The wedding is the easy/irrelevant/fluffy part of getting married. It's the tip of the iceberg..😀

I can only comment on my experience of marriage and that is the wedding part because I'm not married. But for a lot of people, who ultimately end up divorced, the wedding part is super important. And imo, sets up potentially what the marriage will be like. At nearly every wedding there's at least one part where the future is conversed between drunken attendees. One can usually guess which marriages last by the wedding. The more lavish, the less chance of it lasting is my personal experience.

But aasa single male, from what my married friends say, it's worth it for the tax... benefits?

If buying a property with your partner, things can get very messy if one brings a greater share of the deposit than the other - anything more than a 3k differential will potentially attract a capital gains charge on the beneficiary (the smaller contributor). It may be possible to address this with an appropriate contract (joint tenants? tenants in common?) but a solicitor will advise

The only real benefits are artificial tbh: preferential tax treatment, simplified inheritance/guardianship of children etc. Nothing that a government couldn't remove at the stroke of a pen.

The risks are enormous for the higher earner/wealthier spouse, though the government have already inflicted some of this same risk on co-habiting couples. That said, I don't believe the levels of alimony are quite the same in such cases.

Divorce isn't much of a risk if you're both penniless, both earn similar levels of income or if the higher earner is absolutely coining it but if you're the higher earner by any significant amount, our no-fault divorce system puts you at high risk. There's nothing stopping a vindictive spouse from having an affair, quitting their job and expecting their now ex to support them financially for the rest of their lives.

Add kids to the mix and if you're the main breadwinner, you better hope you're in a financial position to cover two mortgages or you'll likely find yourself homeless or, if you're lucky, back living in a flat share at an age beyond what most would find acceptable.

Marriage is merely the formal acknowledgement of a deep connection.

I wouldn't recommend it if there's any doubts.

I did warn my partner that I'd never get married in a religious setting, so thankfully just the two of us went abroad and staged some fake church pics for those relatives for who such things are crucial.

My siblings thanked me for not dragging them through the expense of the usual Irish wedding.

68 guests. No church. 3600 euro bill for the LOT.

Happily married 9 years

Would be a mess for all the reasons above (kids, the law, tax, etc) to not be wed.

Is that still the case?

Did you not have life insurance on your mortgage? I thought it was compulsory.

I have no mortgage now, but on the whole I'd rather have my wife back.

There's a theory that a lot of marriages don't work out because way back in the day it was purely to procreate and we were dead within 5 years of the marriage hence why a lot of people stray because we're not designed to be loyal to one person.

Potential suicide (drowning) so insurance say that if they 'deem it likely' to have been self inflicted they will not pay out. Waiting for inquest and then the fight begins.

A couple with a child, where only one spouse works, will pay about 5 grand less in tax each year simply by being married.

Can I just clear up the whole automatic guardianship thing. If you are not married but are living together for at least 12 months in a row (3 months after the birth) then the father automatically has guardianship rights. Yes these are also granted upon marriage as well but it doesn't affect it if you've been living together.

As for me - I think marriage is worth it if you're doing it for the right reasons, the actual marriage & not some big party. A wedding and a marriage are two very different things.

The expense of the wedding will pale to the expense of the divorce - the “wedding” itself can be as expensive or as reasonable as you both wish -most couples agree on the type of day they want first -budget comes later🤪

As long as a lot of aspects of society still favour married people more from a financial perspective - everything from insurance to tax to inheritance etc then yes it’s probably the way to go.

Is that reason enough to get married? Probably not if you’re independently wealthy - I’m probably olde fashioned and believe in love as the foundation of a good marriage - maybe that’s an outdated thing now - I’d hate to think people in general are getting married purely because of financial benefits - I know there was a well publicised case a few years ago of a same sex couple who weren’t even in a relationship but that was more the exception I would have thought - but yeah love for me is the foundation not money - but I’m totally accepting many marriages don’t work out - I’d probably be in favour of much more straightforward and cheap divorces especially when kids aren’t involved - I don’t care about “divorce” figures these days - they’re no one’s business but the couple at hand - but I’d like to see a fair divorce process - not sure it is right now

It comes from the view that children need their mother more because she's more nurturing and present. An old fashioned, simplistic view, and one that's plain wrong when it comes to some mothers, but that's the reason for it - and there was probably more truth to it way back when men looking after children alone was just not a thing.

It's not just because she has a vagina.

Being married does make it easier as the house would be your joint estate. I don't know the exact procedure to getting tax clearance for inheriting in non married long term established relationship but I'd imagine it's just a little more drawn out.

If you both love each other , or are even compatible and know exactly what you both want , be it children a house or a farm to provide income , marriage is definitely worth a go . If you’re just doing it because it’s expected , you’re better off alone . From a bitter divorcee

This. There's no version of relationship breakdown in which splitting up one household to establish two households isn't going to be massively expensive, with both parties bearing suffering financial impact. Marriage provides a framework for negotiating and allocating those costs, but the costs arise, and you need a framework for dealing with them, whether you are formally married or not. Increasingly the trend is to assimilate the treatment of non-marital couples on relationship breakdown to the treatment of married couples on divorce — i.e. to give the courts the same powers to order property transfer, maintenance payment, etc regardless of whether the couple are married or not.

There is nothing about civil marriage which guarantees that a couple are exclusive, or conjugal.