BL
Marriage is just not about 2 people living together, there are legal rights as well. The Superme court case that overthrew DOMA is a good example
The Windsor vs US case a few years ago in the supreme court was about this. 2 women “married” in Ontario in 2008. At the time New York did not allow such marriages but recognized them if done elsewhere. In 2009 Thea Spyder died leaving a decent sized estate. Surviving spouces are allowed to inherit their deceased spouces estates tax free, however since the federal government did not recognize this relationship even though NY did, Editih Windsor owed $360,000 in estate taxes that she would not have owed if she was married to a man.