I miss the Stuart from Queen of the Damned...he was soooo smokin hot in that movie!! *SIGH*

So a commonlaw marriage or something?? thats interresting...

He was Nova!!

I was about to say 7 years is probably commonlaw marriage

good for them! sometimes the couples that aren't technically married last longer like goldie and kurt.

Thats sweet. They have a good set of heads on their shoulders!

Yay for them!

That's so romantic...try explaining it to security at the hospital when they won't let you in to see "your wife!"

Why change something when it's going so well? I think they are great and at least they're happy. I'm with em, who needs a big fancy wedding?

LOL. pinkelephant. so true. different strokes for different folks though

Does anyone remember when she was with Stephen from TEB? Her and Stuart seem to be a way better fit!

LOL pinkelephant. so true

it depends on the state with the commonlaw. only 16 states recognize them, and of that 16, 6 of them had to be recognized before a certain date.

I agree ShopGal - Goldie & Kurt have been together for a long time!

California does not recognize common law marriage anymore. I don't know what he is talking bout.

can't stand her

I guess he means their souls are joined together? It is good to see that he is excited about their relationship after 7 years

If it works for them though. they are cute together.

I say good for them too. Things really do change after you actually get hitched. I've seen people together for 25 years that get married and suddenly start having problems. Love Charlize, I think she's a very beautiful woman and an extremely talanted actress.

ehh...Ok I'm all about "different strokes for different folks" mentality..but if you're calling each other husband/wife why not get the little itty bitty piece of paper that says you are?! I think Kurt/Goldie are different in that they never said they were husband and wife but that they are a couple who doesn't believe in marriage. ---It just seems stupid to me if you call eachother husband/wife are wearing wedding bands (I read on people.com they did) and are publicly saying that Charlize is your wife..then you should just get married.

::rolls eyes::

I'm sorry, but, please. Something about this sounds so elitist.

If it works for them, then that's great! I wanted the wedding, but I defintely can see why people wouldn't want it. It was alot of stress. And there's that saying, if's not broke, don't fix it.

I'm with them, all that matters is how they feel about each other. They don't need a certificate from the state to make it official.

I don't see why you need paper to validate what you already feel since that piece of paper hasn't really led to eternal happiness for tonnes of people. tHey feel married and committed and while that wasn't the greatest way to say it, he isn't the world's greatest orator but it's cool and I think they are very lucky to still give a dman about each other in a place like Hollywood.

Whatever. If it works for them fine, but Pink Elephant is so right.

Happened to me prior to getting hitched. At the time, Steve and I were living together for a few years and we treated our relationship as a marriage. However, when I took him to the hospital for an extreme allergic reaction to a bug bite, I was not allowed to accompany him into the emergency room. They treated him with a combo of Benadryl and adrenaline which promptly knocked him out.

I impatiently sat and paced for three hours in the waiting room without any news as to his condition, because I was just his "girlfriend". They could not even tell me he was sleeping comfortably.

Finally, he woke and wondered why I was not there.

Good for them! I have the exact same views on marriage; a piece of paper doesn't mean a thing and it cause more hassles. When I find the "one" I'll have the same view. I'm not against marriage, heck, I might decide to marry however I know there are other options. I doen't mean your less committed, it means you don't need a piece of paper and the government to tell you your offical.

It's not like they need the tax breaks

i think it's fantastic. i think a lot of time the official piece of paper creates a lot of added stress to a relationship. that whole 'til death do you part thing.

my parents were not legally married. they did exchange rings & considered themselves married. maybe they were "elitist" or whatever, but that's what they did and nobody had a problem with it.

also, there are some laws regulating common law marriages (7 years). i'm not sure where it stands with regard to when somebody is in the hospital though.

i like em together, they're also very low-key and everything. both talented actors. soo good for them ,

NEXT!

That's great...now to more important things...did he not used to be HOT, I know I vividly remember him being HOT...uh oh...is he yet another "Good lookin' gone bad"?

he's still hot to me when he keeps his clothes on

and yes tiabia he was sexy in queen of the damned

What's the point of getting legally hitched when that leads to divorce over 50 percent of the time? When Jeff was in the emergency room, I had no problem being able to see him. Maybe that had something to do with me being so hands on, and answering all the doctor and nurse's questions before they could finish asking them. I think Texas recognizes common law marriage, though.

Word. Makes perfect sense to me.

He use to be hot. What ever they want to do. Didn't they break up for a while?

"I don't need a piece of paper.. or a ceremony... or a ring..." - that's totally cool and to each his own, but you're NOT married. You're committed, you're soul mates, whatever - but let's not call it what it isn't. Otherwise, I'm going to call myself a size 4 because that's what I feel like inside and I don't care that the label on my jeans say 8 - who are they to tell me what size I am? All that matters is I FEEL like a 4, right?

I guess..I don't get how marriage can all of the sudden ruin a relationship. You live together, you love each other you do everything a married couple does...why not get married? It's not like they don't know each other after seven years. If they don't need a piece of paper to say they're married then why where wedding bands or call each other husband and wife?

wear not where wedding bands.......lol.

I don't know for the life of me why ANY man would want to get married in this day and age. They get BUTCHERED the minute the marriage fails!

-The divorce rate
- The number of extramarital affairs carried on by women
- The greedy cows who having done NOTHING to contribute to his wealth & now want half of it
- The impossible battle it is to get custody of the kids even though the mother may be unfit

I could go on. People seem to forget that the original basis of marriage. The way our forefathers viewed marriage was not as some "love fairytale", it was more of a sound decision. So I say good for Charlize and Stuart!

From Wikipedia (not the most reliable, but it's late and will have to do):

"Marriage sometimes establishes the legal father of a woman's child; establishes the legal mother of a man's child; gives the husband or his family control over the wife's sexual services, labor, and/or property; gives the wife or her family control over the husband's sexual services, labor, and/or property; establishes a joint fund of property for the benefit of children; or establishes a relationship between the families of the husband and wife. (See Edmund Leach's article in "Marriage, Family, and Residence," edited by Paul Bohannan and John Middleton).

I see NOTHING about love in there. Bleurgh! I certainly wouldn't miss the death of "marriage".

uh, you're not serious are you, knde? If so, may I politely suggest some counseling? Every point you made works both ways, other than the custody argument (and it's vastly improved - my brother got custody of his 3 kids, and one wasn't even his bio kid, and the mother wasn't even as bad as Britney). what about men who trade in their spouses of 20 years for "trophy wives"? And what does that have to do with this story anyway? It's not like you can't sue for Palimony.

Well said new2man. I totally agree with both your comments.

My point being the institution of marriage is a mockery of what it once was.

I worked briefly in Social Services and I was made aware of tremendous discrimination towards men. Fighting for custody of a child was usually accompanied with acrimonious divorce proceedings. And I witnessed firsthand how failed marriages broke men. From personal experience and lots of discussions with male acquaintances, I am of the opinion that modern day marriage does NOT favour men.

The institution of marriage serves a LEGAL purpose. It is no indication of how much you love or care for someone. I would think that would be blindingly obvious.

Here's my thing: if you don't believe in convention and tradition then why bother with the traditional titles? Just queer (in the gimme a break form) if you ask me. Grow up, get over it, sign the paper, take the tax break. And if you don't? Don't complain to anyone if you don't have any rights as a family member if she goes into the hospital. And don't whine if her family throws you out of your home on your behind if she dies (god forbid). Hello! This is why gays want the right to marry. These are the horrible things that happen to them because the "state" doesn't recognize their union. There are legal obligations and privledges that come with legal marriage. I think Charlize needs to mature a bit.

They're such a sweet couple

No they're not married, and they're not husband and wife.

i love the two of them together and the idea that a certificate doesn't symbolize their relationship...

How can she say they are already married unless they know what it's like? Goldie had already been married, and been through a divorce. She knew. I lived with my husband 6 years before we got married, and being married IS different than living together.

Definitely. My dad has been with his longtime girlfriend for 15 years now, and guess what? If she dies before him, he's out on his ear, because they are not "married", and her kids are going to get all she's got. She's not made out a will that specifies what (if anything) he gets. I'm so opposed to them not getting married for that reason.

Grow up, and get the piece of paper. No, it does not change how you feel inside, but it does provide some kind of security. My husband can't just throw me out on my ear without paying to get rid of me.

I've been through a divorce, and no, they are not fun. Custody hearings are not fun, either. But at least you can get somewhere legally if you married when something DOES happen to your spouse. You can't even divulge health information to anyone with HIPAA, and that most particularly applies to "significant others". You have no legal basis for signing anything that pertains to their care, cannot make legal decisions if they are mentally incapacitated.

Sorry for the long post, but it's something I have a bit of a soapbox about.

Wow! 7 years! I had no idea!

Agree completely with jimmalou1978 and pinkelephant. I'm engaged, and to me, the practical reasons for getting married are so that we have a say in cases of accidents, illness, emergencies, etc. Yes, there might be individual cases where people had no problems, but you know, I'm not willing to take that risk if my husband is in the ER.

Not to mention, the whole "we're in love so who needs a piece of paper" is very trendy and all, but ask my best friend how it worked out for her, now a single mother of two with no financial support whatsoever from the "husband." She has yet to get child support, let alone anything else. I guess when you have money, you don't have to worry about these things, but for the average person, I think there is something to be said for doing things the traditional way.

knde, plenty of women get screwed over when their husbands cheat, so let's not throw around facts based on your personal experiences and not on statistical data.

"The institution of marriage serves a LEGAL purpose. It is no indication of how much you love or care for someone. I would think that would be blindingly obvious."

I love my fiance so much that if he is in an accident, I want to KNOW I will be allowed to be there with him. I love him so much that if he is mentally incapacitated or terminal, I want to KNOW that his wishes will be carried out. Maybe others can leave this to chance, and hope it doesn't happen or it will work out in the end, but I love him enough to want to KNOW these things as fact. So yes, it doesn serve a legal purpose, but to say love doesn't factor in there is just ridiculous.