View Marriage Act: http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96282_01
What is the purpose of this act?
What powers are conferred on the state or its agents?
How does this act benefit society?
List governmental and community based agencies that work within this legislated act.
What issues may be associated with the administration of this act?
- Ownership in, or division of, family assets or other property during marriage, or on the making of an order for dissolution of marriage, judicial separation, or a declaration of nullity of marriage
How would you support and advocate for your clients in relationship to this act?
Identify community resources in your area that may assist clients to navigate through legal systems.
Describe and explain current or historical events as seen through the media that relate to this act, convention or charter. Provide a related link or copy of a newspaper article.
Gay couple married in BC shocked that their marriage may not be valid
By Tara Carman, The Vancouver Sun, January 12, 2012
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/couple+married+shocked+that+their+marriage+valid/5987320/story.html
Department of Justice lawyer in Toronto argues non-Canadian lesbian, homosexual unions only valid here if recognized in their home country
Grey divorce rates climbing
By Tom Carney, The Vancouver Sun, October 21, 2012
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Grey+divorce+rates+climbing/7423415/story.html
The up-and-coming trend of what we may call ‘grey divorce’; referring to couples splitting after the age of fifty. This article suggests that “the baby boomers were the first generation to enter marriage with the expectation that marriage would make them happy rather than how well each partner would fulfill their marital roles.” Furthermore, this article introduces the idea that having two or three marriages over the course of a lifetime may become a social norm; a starter marriage, a marriage to raise children, and a marriage for companionship. In my opinion, the normalization of having two or three marriages within our lifetime completely defeats the purpose of the pieces in the Marriage Act which outline the commitments we must be aware of before entering a marital agreement.
What is the purpose of this act?
- Governs who may marry and who may not, and why.
- Ensures that all marriages in the province of British Columbia are legally registered.
- Provides information to the public in regards to the requirements a Religious Representative or Marriage Commissioner must meet in order to be authorized to solemnize the marriage between two people.
- Displays the guidelines under which a Civil Marriage and/or Religious Ceremony may take place, as well as the marriage of individuals who have been previously married.
What powers are conferred on the state or its agents?
- Upon application, any Religious Representative may be registered by the Chief Executive Officer, to solemnize marriage
- The Chief Executive Officer may validate the solemnization of a marriage without a registered religious representative, if he or she is satisfied by an affidavit pertaining to the marriage
- A Marriage Commissioner, who is appointed by the Executive Director of Vital Statistics, performs civil ceremonies for individuals who do not wish to be married by a Religious Representative
- The Marriage Act holds the authority to regulate the marriage of minors under the age of nineteen, and prohibit marriage for minors under the age of sixteen without consent of the Supreme Court
How does this act benefit society?
- Protects the pension and survivor benefits of married couples
- Protects individual rights in regards to a deceased spouse’s legal will
- Ensures custody and guardianship of any children born within the marriage
- Protects the inheritance rights of children born to the married couple
List governmental and community based agencies that work within this legislated act.
- The British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency: http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/
- Service British Columbia: http://www.servicebc.gov.bc.ca/
- British Columbia Assembly of First Nations: http://www.bcafn.ca/
What issues may be associated with the administration of this act?
- Information pertaining to marriage may be found scattered throughout other Acts, and not directly stated in the Marriage Act itself. For example, Section 61 of the Family Relations Act states that a marriage is an agreement entered into by two people before or during their marriage to each other, for:
- Ownership in, or division of, family assets or other property during marriage, or on the making of an order for dissolution of marriage, judicial separation, or a declaration of nullity of marriage
- Low-income individuals may not be able to afford the prescribed fee to marry, therefore inhibiting their access to the benefits of a legal marriage
- This Act does not take a pluralistic perspective in regards to the customs and traditions pertaining to marriage involving individuals from other cultures (besides Western), in British Columbia
- Does not take into account the customs and traditions pertaining to marriage which vary across different cultures within British Columbia
How would you support and advocate for your clients in relationship to this act?
- By supporting and advocating for couples who have children together, but are unable to legally marry for any given reason (i.e. financial barriers), and therefore, are unable to receive the benefits for both themselves and their child or children.
- I would actively seek out a way to offer subsidized marriage licenses to lower-income couples.
Identify community resources in your area that may assist clients to navigate through legal systems.
- The Vital Statistics Agency: http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/
- Service British Columbia: http://www.servicebc.gov.bc.ca/
Describe and explain current or historical events as seen through the media that relate to this act, convention or charter. Provide a related link or copy of a newspaper article.
Gay couple married in BC shocked that their marriage may not be valid
By Tara Carman, The Vancouver Sun, January 12, 2012
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/couple+married+shocked+that+their+marriage+valid/5987320/story.html
Department of Justice lawyer in Toronto argues non-Canadian lesbian, homosexual unions only valid here if recognized in their home country
Grey divorce rates climbing
By Tom Carney, The Vancouver Sun, October 21, 2012
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Grey+divorce+rates+climbing/7423415/story.html
The up-and-coming trend of what we may call ‘grey divorce’; referring to couples splitting after the age of fifty. This article suggests that “the baby boomers were the first generation to enter marriage with the expectation that marriage would make them happy rather than how well each partner would fulfill their marital roles.” Furthermore, this article introduces the idea that having two or three marriages over the course of a lifetime may become a social norm; a starter marriage, a marriage to raise children, and a marriage for companionship. In my opinion, the normalization of having two or three marriages within our lifetime completely defeats the purpose of the pieces in the Marriage Act which outline the commitments we must be aware of before entering a marital agreement.