Marriage

===Rights and obligations===
{{See also|Matrimonial regime|Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States}}

A marriage bestows rights and obligations on the married parties, and sometimes on [[kinship|relatives]] as well, being the sole mechanism for the creation of [[affinity (law)|affinal ties]] (in-laws). These may include, depending on jurisdiction:
* Giving one spouse or his/her family control over the other spouse's sexual services, labor, and property.
* Giving one spouse responsibility for the other's debts.
* Giving one spouse visitation rights when the other is incarcerated or hospitalized.
* Giving one spouse control over the other's affairs when the other is incapacitated.
* Establishing the second [[legal guardian]] of a parent's child.
* Establishing a [[community property|joint fund of property]] for the benefit of children.
* Establishing a relationship between the families of the spouses.

These rights and obligations vary considerably between societies, and between groups within society.<ref>{{cite book|last = Leach| first =Edmund|editor=Paul Bonannan and John Middleton|title=Marriage, Family, and Residence|publisher=The Natural History Press| year =1968|isbn=978-1-121-64470-0}}</ref> These might include arranged marriages, family obligations, the legal establishment of a [[nuclear family]] unit, the legal protection of children and public declaration of [[Promise|commitment]].<ref>{{cite book|first=James E.|last=Krier|author2=Gregory S. Alexander|author3=Michael H. Schill|author4=Jesse Dukeminier|title=Property|publisher=Aspen Publishers|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7355-5792-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/property0000unse}} Excerpt – p. 335: "...at the wedding; hence the importance of including in the marriage ceremony the words, 'With all my worldly goods I thee endow.'"</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/What%20is%20Marriage%20For.pdf|title=What is Marriage For? The Public Purposes of Marriage Law|last=Gallagher|first=Maggie|year=2002|publisher=Louisiana law review}}</ref>