[net.social] Marriage == Loss of legal rights?

bossert@dataio.UUCP (John Bossert) (07/26/85)

> 
> My roommate (also of 1 1/2 years standing) is quite opposed to marriage,
> since in most states she would lose all kinds of legal rights.  I'm not
> quite so opposed, since I would gain all sorts of rights :-) :-) :-)
> 
> 							stan shebs

I'm getting married next month, and a continuing point of sensitivity
between us is "loss of rights".  Specifically, she's concerned about 
losing her credit rating as an individual.  

Now my questions:

	1) What "legal rights" does a woman surrender via marriage?
	   This includes specific, implied, or accepted rights.
	   While we're at it, does she (do I) gain any rights?

	2) What can the two of us do to protect those rights?

There was an article in the Seattle-Times a few weeks ago, where a
car salesman refused to sell a car to a woman without her husband's
permission.  This seems unbelievable to me, but many women have told
me of similarly degrading experiences.

-- 
		John Bossert
		Data I/O Corporation
		Redmond, WA
		uw-beaver!entropy!dataio!{bossert,usenet}

silber@lasspvax.UUCP (Jeffrey Silber) (07/29/85)

You should not lose any existing credit rating, and when you are using joint
credit you should make sure that you notify the creditor to report the credit
record to the credit bureau under BOTH names.

There are some states where there still exists spousal-immunity for tort-actions.
This means that in those states there are certain actions (and in the case
I am aware of this was a civil action for assault) than cannot be brought
in court.  By in large, though, criminal actions can be brought against a
spouse.  (I am not implying, in any sense, that this would apply to you!)