When asked if I would ever get married again, I often reply that “marriage” and “commitment” are mutually exclusive. I know that each can exist without the other… as I have experienced both. I currently have what @livelaughlove21 and @Shippy describe, without being married. We are engaged, but are waiting to get married for financial reasons. While there is a chance that my son might want to attend college full time and we’ll need financial aid, it makes more sense for me to remain single. I didn’t meet my fiancĂ© until after my son was already out of High School, so I don’t think it would be fair for the government to expect him to contribute to my son’s education because we got married.
However, once my son is certain that he won’t be attending college full-time, or once he ages out of the requirement that the FAFSA looks at the parents’ income (it’s not totally clear to me if that’s at 25 or 26), then we will get married, for the rights and protections it will give us, as we will be hitting 50 in the next few years.
I am not a religious person. I got may marriage license in a courthouse, and sued (yes, that is the terminology) my alcoholic husband for divorce in a courthouse. Marriage is a legally binding contract between two adults (which remains my argument for allowing same-sex marriages).
I know that getting married to my fiancĂ© won’t change anything between us. The dedication and devotion to one another is solid (and my ass is already huge!), and very evident to anyone that meets us, as most people assume we are married. The benefit to getting married is that we can be with each other should one be hospitalized (although, they let him sleep in my room when I had surgery 2 years ago, because they assumed he was my husband – something that won’t happen for same-sex couples). Marriage also allows one to make decisions for the other, should one become unable to do so.