We already know to avoid all “marriage licenses.” Here are two more legal hacks that might help.
Apparently a Rental Agreement, even of $100 a month or $1, that is actually paid, will serve to cancel claims of Common Law Marriage in States that have Common Law marriage. Of course we actually want to be married, not “cohabitating” without marriage which I do not recommend. A man and a woman are married when they decide to be married, and act like married people. But, in the eyes of the law, you are not married, which is good because then they can’t skin you alive in divorce court.
Here is commentary on a “cohabitation agreement,” which is similar, but I think an actual Rental Agreement would be even more effective.
The Romans used to assign custody of children to the Husbands, in the case of divorce. This accomplished a few things: First, we have seen that Fathers are actually better single parents than Mothers. It establishes Patriarchial ownership of the children. Men have to take care of the children, of course, but a woman that leaves has no child support claims upon the man. A man who has children is less likely to leave his wife, since the children need someone to care for them, and who better than their own mother? Also, another woman is not likely to want to take care of another woman’s children. (This is why there are so many fairy tales with evil stepmothers.)
The Case for Father Custody, by Daniel Amneus
To establish Father Custody, even in the case of divorce, you could use a Surrogacy Agreement.
Of course we want to actually be married, living together happily with our children. But, these are potential tools to bypass the horrible divorce law that we have today.
Cornerstone 