Who says that the state defines who is married? If it would be a purely private matter there would be no issue (beyond what they are doing but that is not enforceable other than in a Big Brother regime). Of course, that would also mean no government programs that differentiate between a spouse and a friend whom the person wants to be a beneficiary but that could be solved by allowing people to contractually designate anyone they please with their benefit reduced according to actuarial criteria. Similarly, a flat income tax could be enacted so that there would be no reason for a joint return. Alternately, any two people who can prove that they share a home, even if they are traditional flatmates, could designate themselves a household.
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