A civil union is a legally recognized relationship, known by a variety of other names, that grants some or all of the rights of marriage, with the adoption of children being a common exception. Many jurisdictions that maintain civil unions recognize a foreign union as equivalent to their own, and the marriages of same-sex couples performed abroad may themselves be recognized as civil unions in jurisdictions that only offer the latter.
Facts
Institution Type Emergence Era Connections
Associated With
Common-law marriage and civil union are both institutions that grant some legal recognition to a couple relationship without a formal marriage ceremony.
A civil union offers many of the legal protections of marriage without using the marriage institution itself, typically created to extend recognition to couples excluded from marriage.
Civil unions were widely adopted as a legal precursor or parallel institution to same-sex marriage, extending some or most marital rights to same-sex couples before or instead of full marriage recognition.
Sources
1. Civil Union (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with child adoption being a common exception.
English Wikipedia, intro text
In 1989, Denmark was the first country to legalise civil unions; however, most other developed democracies did not begin establishing them until the 1990s and early 2000s.
Lead, institution-type-category kinship-institution
A civil union, also known by a variety of other terms, is a legal recognition of a relationship.
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