If I die intestate, is who inherits my house a government issue?
The obvious thing would be for people to put it on their will, but I'm not sure how often people actually update them. I imagine it would be something people would do when they get married, along with contracts for sharing property and such. I'm not sure exactly how feasible that is.
If my husband wants to visit me in the hospital after my stroke, and the hospital staff refuse to allow it, is that a government issue?
Are there laws about that? I'd expect the choice of who can enter would fall to the hospital. If they care if you're married and aren't willing to take your word for it, they can still check. It's an issue, so someone will be keeping track of it.
I am somewhat confused by your response.
For example, I agree with you that putting information about who inherits my house in my will is the obvious thing to do. But what I'm asking is, if I die without having specified who inherits my house, is determining who inherits my house a government issue, or not?
If it helps, in most jurisdictions the U.S. today, the mechanism for this determination is controlled by law, which is understood to be a function of the government. I don't know whether that's sufficient to make it a government issue, or not.
If it is a...
A thought occurred to me today as I skimmed an article in a rationality forum where the subject of gay marriage cropped up; seeing as the issue has been hotly contested in various public fora and especially the courts, what about poly? After all, many if not all the arguments for gay marriage apply to poly marriage as well.
Questions for LWers who are currently in a such a relationship, or have an opinion to share:
Do polies want to marry each other or do such relationships not lend themselves to permanence above a threshold of partners? Should polies campaign for the right for a civil union anyway? what are the up and down sides of this? etc