> Who/what else is going to resolve these questions?
Would there be some drawback to people contracting among themselves to decide these matters (except for the custody question, which is a bit tougher)? Or have I overlooked some reason that it's preferable for the state to mandate that they all be decided in one fell swoop, in favor of a single individual? You claim that "most people would want" it this way, and I'm certainly not proposing that we ban them from signing comprehensive master contracts if they so choose. But why impose them on the rest of us, while coupling them with the ludicrous spectacle of state-licensed religious ceremonies?
And as for custody, non-biological parents can adopt already. Doesn't that offer more security than a legal marriage between a biological parent and someone else? My impression is that step-parents, whether they're straight as an arrow or gay as the day is long, have pretty much no rights under current family law.
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."