Definition of spouse

Question

On WikiTree what is the definition of spouse?  That term seem to imply to me a legal status.  Sometimes parentage is from a non-legal relationship.  That may be increasingly common.  When the father is stated for a profile, WikiTree automatically sets that person as spouse of the mother.  William J. Pease (Pease-3217)

Comments

The question of spouse created considerable interest and the replies were appreciated.  The definition of spouse was not decided, but I found that in a particular case of concern, in editing marriage date or location, I was able to delete spouse appropriately.

Answer 1

IF I find the couple living together in the 1850-1940 census with the child in the home, I look for a marriage record. Don't always find one. 

After the 1940 Census I look for a marriage record. 

I define marriage as a legal contract ratified by the state and subject to the laws and penalties imposed by the state ... and without that marriage record (Official) I consider them to have dubious relationship legally ... 

Many PM will go ahead and PRESUME there was a legal marriage unless they find evidence otherwise but there is a provision for "uncertain" -- which is all too often in the face of a lack of marriage record what will have to be stated 

I have to admit the whole idea that maybe as many as half or more of my profiles are for legal bastards is daunting.  

Answer 2

Are you referring to cohabitation of two persons not legally married (Common Law Marriage) who produce a child or a child born out of wedlock without cohabitation and how to define that child's parents?

If this is a common law marriage and the woman changes her name legally through the courts and not by legal marriage in that state to the partner's last name and the birth certificate of the child recognizes this name, then I would keep them joined as spouses.  If separate names were kept through the relationship or the child was born out of wedlock and the parents were not living together, just change their marriage condition by going to Edit Marriage of one of the parents and select remove marriage towards the bottom of the page.  This will remove the marriage between them, but the child will still have them listed as mother and father and the child will still be listed under their individual Profiles as a child of theirs..

I have few Profiles where this has occurred where the father and mother were not legally married, but the birth certificate names each individually or a marriage certificate or death certificate of the child names a father other than the new husbands name.  In each case the child does not show up under the new marriage as child of this union and the real father does appear.

Answer 3

When a child is added to a person, or a spouse is added, and the wikitree ID is entered at the top of the page AND the parents / spouse is not married, you need to NOT select the Go next to the ID, scroll to the bottom of the page and uncheck the box to state that the parents / spouse is Not married.

If the Parents are married, then the Go button can be used at the top of the profile.

If there are 2 spouses for the parent having the child added, you also should scroll to the bottom to select which spouse is the other parent.

Answer 4

Surely a spouse can be defined by the culture and personal expectations of the people themselves living in that time period. Many, if not most, marriages in history did not involve paperwork and were never formally filed in any central database; they were performed by priests, handfastings, walks around ceremonial fires, and other rituals.

However, there is no need for Wikitree to 'marry' people for the sake of propriety. If a couple produced children out of wedlock (what was considered wedlock in their time and culture) they should not be linked as spouses. I think surely Wikitreers are mature enough to handle the fact that marriage is not necessary for the conception of children.

Answer 5

The key question in defining marriage isn't what it takes to start it, but what it takes to end it.  It's not really a marriage if it's too easy to walk away.

The Church came up with the word "solemnized" for a Church wedding.  That way, they could say that if you weren't married in Church, you weren't married properly, but they avoided saying you weren't married at all.  You could still be married enough to have cause or just impediment, if you tried to marry somebody else.

It's a question of deciding whether the deal is intended to be a binding commitment, or whether the couple are just enjoying the advantages while consciously keeping their options open.

Comments

It's about practical things: inheritance, and who can let the doctors turn off the ventilator. If you don't marry you have to write a will and have a power of attorney drawn up.

Answer 6

I don't think the site has an official definition, but if you look at this page in the Help file and the other pages it links to about non-traditional families, you might get a feel for the best way to handle different situations:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Unmarried_Parents

Answer 7

Good question. I think it is a real one in genealogy only when the relationship has no posterity. If John and Mary are acknowledged as the parents of Paul (biological and/or legal is another related can of worms I won't open here), that's all we need for the main question of genealogy which is filiation. Whatever is the social, legal binding between parents is just anecdotic.

If there is no posterity, since "spouse" is accepted as a family link, and many profiles are attached to the single tree only this way, I think there can't be a fine line. Many genealogical data bases are happy to add every kind of "relation" of famous people they can put their hand on. But WikiTree has only one type of relation called "spouse".

I  would not add "spouse" relationship myself if they were not considered as such in the local context, and the more so if there is no posterity. Can be mentioned in the biography.