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Are Dr Culber and Stamets common law husbands?

This is a bit of an aside, but what does marriage even mean in the Federation? Like, does it have any official recognition at all?

I mean, the Federation is post-scarcity, so all of the aspects of marriage related to joint property and inheritance are out the window. Don't have to worry about taxes and the like either.

Aside from aspects related to childrearing, the only real benefit I can think of is if laws regarding medical decision-making when a partner is ill are still in effect. But in general I simply don't see why the UFP would really pay it much mind at all. Might just be a private ceremony some people choose to have.
 
This is a bit of an aside, but what does marriage even mean in the Federation? Like, does it have any official recognition at all?

I mean, the Federation is post-scarcity, so all of the aspects of marriage related to joint property and inheritance are out the window. Don't have to worry about taxes and the like either.

Aside from aspects related to childrearing, the only real benefit I can think of is if laws regarding medical decision-making when a partner is ill are still in effect. But in general I simply don't see why the UFP would really pay it much mind at all. Might just be a private ceremony some people choose to have.

There's still scarcity for space, if you demand to stay on a central planet that is almost full, rather than heading out to a colony, where they give you a million hectare farm, with the expectation that you'll have a billion tons of grain for a ship to haul back to Earth in a year.

I don't think that anyone can demand to live on Earth, just because they happen to be human, unless they fulfill some vital duty towards the upkeep of Earth or the Federation, if it really is almost full.
 
Is there scarcity for space, though? In most industrialized countries here and now, the fertility rate is well below replacement levels. And really, do we know of anyone (aside from the faux Picards in "Generations") who had more than two children? For all we know, Earth's population is down around two or three billion by the Trek era.

And, even if it's not, there's orbital habitats, undersea colonies, and millions of people on the moon.
 
This is a bit of an aside, but what does marriage even mean in the Federation? Like, does it have any official recognition at all?

I mean, the Federation is post-scarcity, so all of the aspects of marriage related to joint property and inheritance are out the window.

Even in a post-scarcity society, there will be things that are not fungible. Who inherits the house a couple built and raised their kids in? Who inherits the family heirlooms?

Aside from aspects related to childrearing,

That's a pretty big deal right there.

the only real benefit I can think of is if laws regarding medical decision-making when a partner is ill are still in effect.

Again, that is huge. Like, that is a fundamental thing. You can't underestimate how important this one is. This is a source of conflict in real life within families all the time even when money is no longer an issue, and there has to be a legal mechanism by which to decide who gets final say in these kinds of things.

But in general I simply don't see why the UFP would really pay it much mind at all. Might just be a private ceremony some people choose to have.

I mean, I think you're also understating how important the basic idea of the bonds of love and family are.
 
I'm almost certain Burnham used the word widow when referring to Stamets at some point after Culber's death.
Yeah, in a log entry at the beginning of "Saints of Imperfection." I remember thinking it was strange that that, of all ways, was how they resolved the ambiguity of whether or not they were married.
 
Is there scarcity for space, though? In most industrialized countries here and now, the fertility rate is well below replacement levels. And really, do we know of anyone (aside from the faux Picards in "Generations") who had more than two children? For all we know, Earth's population is down around two or three billion by the Trek era.

And, even if it's not, there's orbital habitats, undersea colonies, and millions of people on the moon.

Jacob Sisko dropped at least four kids, which is canon.

The ideal number of people for this planet IRL is 1 billion people.

If we hadn't invented a lot of science, we'd have choked on our own filth in the 70s and died out.

It's not about how many humans you can shoehorn into the Earth in 2250, it's about how many people you should let live on Earth, to establish a healthy equilibrium with the rest of the planet.
 
When Reno and Culber were having their bonding moment at the end of season 2 Culber talked about his and Stamets wedding.

Not seeing it.

I see why you got along
with him.

Who?Stamets.

And, uh, when did you two
become friends?

[chuckles] Well, we didn't,
but I work with him

and I need him on his A game
if we're gonna save...

well, apparently,
all of sentient life.

Mm.

I didn't know you were married.

Yep. My wife is Soyousian.

She went totally bananas
during the planning.

Believe me,
I understand micromanagement.

Yeah, she had a list of rules

for apparel
for guests under ten.

A "do not play" list
for the deejay.

Nondenominational
shuttle parking.

Acceptable guestbook
calligraphic fonts.

Vegan steak.

[laughs]

Where is she now?

She passed.

https://subslikescript.com/series/S...on-2/episode-12-Through_the_Valley_of_Shadows
 
This is a bit of an aside, but what does marriage even mean in the Federation? Like, does it have any official recognition at all?

I mean, the Federation is post-scarcity, so all of the aspects of marriage related to joint property and inheritance are out the window. Don't have to worry about taxes and the like either.

Aside from aspects related to childrearing, the only real benefit I can think of is if laws regarding medical decision-making when a partner is ill are still in effect. But in general I simply don't see why the UFP would really pay it much mind at all. Might just be a private ceremony some people choose to have.
It's probably purely ceremonial by the 23rd century and beyond. But people do own property that gets passed down, like Chateau Picard.
 
It's probably purely ceremonial by the 23rd century and beyond. But people do own property that gets passed down, like Chateau Picard.

My head canon mixed with actual canon.

Chateau Picard (and Sisko's) are Heritage Parks staffed by unpaid labour/historians/interns with flourish. Alternatively Chateau Picard (and Sisko's) are Heritage Parks staffed by clones who carry on their toil for the entertainment of real people. (Note how Robert PIcard's kid is played by the same actor who played young Jean Luc in Rascals. Even if Jean-Luc banged his brother's wife, that's still hella unlikely.)

The farm/Chateau was left fallow for a hundred years after the Nazis took it in world war two. Later there was 10ish years between Robert and Rene dying in Nemesis and Picard returning to manage the farm, where no one maintained the farm and it was left to run fallow (again). That's two breaks in "ownership" where local government would have seized the land. Yes I am aware that one of the local governments I am talking about is the Nazi party, but there's been a massive convention of returning "things" stolen by the NAZIs back to their legitimate owners... So why didn't the Picards head back to France in 1946 and take their farm back?

The Picards returned to Chateau Picard half way through World War three when there was no government and no money, so they couldn't buy land or authenticate the sale with their local council planning office, so they just had to kill who ever was already living there and fortify their position, which makes them thieves who will have to face justice when the family of the people they killed come back for their land. (flip flop, flip flop.)

Meanwhile the Robot pretending to be Picard has no rights to pretend that he has the property rights of a Picard, or the rank of Jean Luc Picard, or the rank of the senior historian looking after a heritage park, but if that was true, then original Picard would have lost all his human rights after becoming Borg, if his brain was fiddled with or replaced with a Borg facsimile after the messy bits had been vacuumed.

Sorry.
 
From what I have read, Common Law marriage involves having children with the spouse and being together for three or more years. Having children does not include adopted children brought into a relationship, but children created between both spouses.
 
CAROL: (on viewscreen) The reformed moon simulated here represents the merest fraction of the Genesis potential, should the Federation wish to fund these experiments to their logical conclusion. When we consider the cosmic problems of population and food supply, the usefulness of this process becomes clear. This concludes our proposal. Thank you for your attention.

Sarcity.
 
That's about the only time we hear of it. In both "Enterprise" and the TNG era, humanity has done away with war and poverty.
 
Why would Starfleet even have such oppressive laws to begin with?
Starfleet doesn't have laws. And I doubt the Federation has such a law. Marriage in the Federation is going to cover a wide variety of species and cultures. It will be very flexible.
 
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Why would Starfleet even have such oppressive laws to begin with?
Starfleet restricts romantic relationships. See Harry Kim. Though, I doubt that applies here.

Starfleet is a unique organization. And it's regulations apply to its members, not all Federation citizens. Just like in the US military adultery is still a punishable offense under the UCMJ.
 
The Harry Kim rule is about boinking an unknown species, who may produce toxic unwanted circumstances, and did.

Common law or de facto marriage is just for lazy people, busy people or poor people.

If you have kids, you often need proof that the kid is yours, and a whisper of a half assed marriage agreement might do it in a clinch.
 
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