Page 104 - The Circle of Life

do you have any benefit from the laws relating to the exemption from estate

duty of bequests to spouses. Nor are you recognised claimant if his/her partner
dies intestate (without a will). Nor do you enjoy any rights as a spouse. You
don't even get the title of spouse but of cohabitee which sounds like something

rabbits do.

Get married or tell him to get lost is my advice.

What is meant by marrying the glove?

This is just a custom and not the law in most of Africa but I do believe Dutch law

had it at one stage but whether they still do I don't know. Essentially it is to
marry by proxy which is legal in many countries which surprised me when I

researched the topic.

I understand in the states of California, Texas, Colorado, Montana, and Alabama
this is still possible and apparently in 2003 or thereabout such a marriage

happened on the international space station between a Russian Cosmonaut and
his fiancée in Texas. I presume they could be linked by video feed so it is not the

classic marriage with the glove as at least they had communication with each
other. In modern law this will never be acceptable as both parties must be

present and I worry about the effects of such a marriage where it is allowed for
it will probably fall under the in community type of dispensation which we dislike

on principle.

I read that in the state of Montana a double proxy marriage may be recognised
which means not one of the parties is present at their marriage. I find it rather
weird but as all things in law it had a good reason behind it. Before jet aircraft

arrived it took months (and would have been silly) to travel to the colonies to be
married and travel back for months a few days later. It was also dangerous and

expensive.

Many men went to the colonies for years to make their fortunes and at some
stage decided the local girls are not quite their cup of tea though they were most

definitely not celibate in most cases. They would then ask a mate to look for a
wife for them and when he found someone rich enough a few letters would be

exchanged. The end result was a glove (not new) being sent with a formal

103