Plus One: Who Decides Who is One's Significant Other?

The law respects essential relationships, most notably marriage. Family members receive various benefits to support the family unit and the relationships within it. While the protection of parental relationships is easily understandable, spousal benefits may be questioned. In the western historical tradition, granting benefits exclusively to marital relationships were justified and practical. Nowadays, this seems less obvious. This article suggests that like wedding invitations, the law too should be open to various plus ones so it will reflect, respect, and support the reality of life and not base itself on overly-broad, sometimes unjustified, assumptions founded solely on one traditional official relationship (and its modern variations).