Please, vote NO on HB233 on April 13 in the Civil Justice Committee because people getting married are safer with Tennessee's marriage license system than the risky, untested system outlined in the bill.
HB233 establishes a process for registering marriages for man/woman couples IF they choose to do so. We don't know how these marriages without licenses will work in matters of custody, divorce, inheritance, and other areas of family law. As one representative noted on April 6, these issues can be particularly thorny with blended families.
It just seems that marriage licenses have every advantage in being a clear and public record of the relationship that protects both parties. Under this new proposal, if the couple did not register their marriage, it is not clear what protections they would be afforded. It seems to open the couple to abuse, neglect as well as legal and financial troubles down the road.
There are too many murky questions to endorse this proposal.
Thank you for considering my views.
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