What is the difference between a civil union and a marriage?

Especially in regards to Proposition 8.





Please, don't try and persuade me or any of that...I'm already decided. I'm just trying to get all my facts verified.





Thank you. :)What is the difference between a civil union and a marriage?
There are about 1,000 differences. Some of the more significant ones:





Married people do not have to testify against each other in court and have ';spousal privilege';, i.e. they can tell each other things in confidence. Civil Unions/Domestic partnership couples don't have that right.





If a spouse in a marriage dies, they can leave their half of the house to the surviving spouse without penalty. In a Civil Union/Domestic Partnership the surviving partner pays up to 40% tax on the CURRENT VALUE of that house. I.e. if a married couple's house is worth $500K, the survivor pays nothing, while the civil union/D.P. couple pays $125,000 tax.








If a spouse dies, and the family challenges the will, the spouse almost always wins unless, for example, they caused the death. In a Civil Union/Domestic partnership, the family can claim the union isn't valid and are more likely to win.





If someone marries a spouse from another country, that person is eligible to live in the U.S. In a Civil Union/Domestic partnership, that's not allowed.





Married people do not have to pay tax if their spouse gets health insurance. Civil Union/Domestic partnership couples are taxed on insurance benefits as if it were income.





In marriage, one spouse can, for example, temporarily go live somewhere else, such as if their company wants them to work three months at a branch office. Civil Unions/Domestic partnerships require the partners to always live together.





If a married couple with children separates, one spouse can't just take the child to another state to keep the other from seeing that child. In a Civil Union/Domestic partnership, that's not true.





Some rights of marriage can be achieved by spending thousands of dollars on legal contracts, but not all.What is the difference between a civil union and a marriage?
What is Marriage? When people marry, they tend to do so for reasons of love and commitment. But marriage is also a legal status, which comes with rights and responsibilities. Marriage establishes a legal kinship between you and your spouse. It is a relationship that is recognized across cultures, countries and religions.





What is a Civil Union? Civil Unions exist in only a handful of places: Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut. California and Oregon have domestic partnership laws that offer many of the same rights as civil unions.





Vermont civil unions were created in 2000 to provide legal protections to gays and lesbians in relationships in that state because gay marriage is not an option. The protections do not extend beyond the border of Vermont and no federal protections are included with a Civil Union. Civil Unions offer some of the same rights and responsibilities as marriage, but only on a state level.
It depends on the state. In California, I believe domestic partnership laws and marriage laws carry the same rights. In other states, the two have substantially equal rights. In my own state (Ohio), we have no domestic partnership laws period.





The question isn't really which rights do each carry, but are each equal. Consider that domestic partnership in California is open to heterosexual couples, but most don't seem to be opting for it in lieu of marriage. The answer to that question, though, I'll leave in your hands.
Well, you can have a civil union and be seen as bound by law, but that does not mean you will be recognized as married by certain organizations (like a church).





Civil Union is jus legaleze to allow the government to provide a service private religiou institutions will not, and should not be forced to.
it is in the other benefits, like health insurance and death benefits and things like that. In a marriage you get a lot of those benefits, but in a civil union you get some but not all. Plus in some cases you have to pay more for the same benefits in a civil union.
none really. they are both contracts covering the same thing. they are basically just called different names.








to be honest i think the only difference is that the church can not bless a gay marriage.
the difference between ketchup and Katsup.
Marriage vs Perversion