What is the benefit of a marriage certificate in Singapore?

In the current society we live in, what is the benefit of having a marriage certificate?

Me and my partner are not planning to have a kid.
We are looking to purchase a private property instead of a BTO or HDB.

Is there still value to a marriage certificate? You see, marriage does not guarantee that either party is faithful to each other. The character of either party matters more. We see a lot of divorce cases in Singapore, underlying that a marriage certificate is not a guarantee for a happy marriage.

Most couples are getting a marriage cert to get a BTO or HDB, but this will not be applicable when we get a private property instead where you can purchase using one name.

We are not planning to have children, so there is no need for marriage too.

In fact, I have heard many cases of marriages falling apart and because they are married, it caused a lot of inconveniences.

In my opinion, two people spending their lives together is a concept and both parties can commit to a relationship without the need for a marriage certificate to prove it. What are your thoughts?

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Japen 8305 Kool

19 Jan 2024

I am pregnant not married.can i hire or get a man to get married ..just for d sake of legimating my baby and get gov perks.any advice

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Zeng Yanzhi

10 May 2021

Marriage and a marriage certificate are two intertwined but different things.

Marriage is the social construct of getting married, starting a family etc.

Marriage certificate is a piece of paper signifying your relationship with the other person. It means that the other person has now familial ties with you. It is your choice on who you want to add to your family (rather than being born that way).

So while you could stay together, have kids together, share finances etc. without being married/having a marriage cert, having one just makes life easier. There will be a day that you may need to 'prove' that this person is your family, and they may not be around to prove it, the marriage cert is a clear proof of that. Otherwise you're going to have to get the other person to authorize you to be part of their life and explain it, whereas the marriage cert is the fastest and easiest way to do it.

And often its when dealing with money or sensitive information that being able to quickly/unambiguously prove familial ties would save you a lot of headache/lawyer fees/explanations.

Eg. in the event of your partner's untimely demise, your will may be contested if you leave a large bulk of your estate to someone who you're a 'friend' with as opposed to 'spouse'. The former would be much more contentious should your family choose to contest it versus the latter.

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Peter Lin

10 May 2021

Brand Comms Lead at Mortgage Master

Since this is Seedly, let's just look at the financial benefits of being legally married apart from ...

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