Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Willow.

And I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called "Marriage" and it fits into the Unit Healthy relationships: How do relationships change? During this lesson, we are going to be talking about sexual violence, and we're going to refer to some sensitive content too.

So for this lesson, we require you to have an adult with you.

If you don't have an adult with you at the moment, please return to this lesson when you have an adult with you.

Okay, let's make a start on today's lesson.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the importance of marriage, why people choose to marry, and key marriage laws in the UK.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura says that we need to listen to others.

"It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should always listen properly before we make any assumptions or before we decide how to respond.

When disagreeing with someone else, it's important to challenge the statement and not the person themselves." Jacob says that we need to not have any judgment.

"We can explore any beliefs or misunderstandings that we have about a topic without fear of being judged by others." Next, Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

"Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in with discussion.

And we should never put anyone on the spot." As this can make some people feel uncomfortable.

And finally, Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy.

"We can discuss examples, but we shouldn't use any names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves." If you want to share a story, we can refer to someone as my friend.

This means that we're not going to give away any identifying information.

We're now going to take a look at the keywords for today's lesson.

Our first keyword is marriage.

This is a legal or formal union between two people as partners in a personal relationship.

Next, we have commitment.

This is a promise or agreement to be loyal and dedicated to a person, cause, or activity.

Next, we have consent.

In this context, this means permission for something to happen or an agreement to do something.

And finally, we have legal rights.

These are rights recognized and protected by the law.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called what is the importance of marriage, and our second learning cycle is called what are the key marriage laws in the UK? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle.

What is the importance of marriage? Marriage is a legally or formally recognized union of two people.

People may choose to get married for love, commitment, legal benefits, religious reasons, or tradition.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

What are the reasons that a person might choose to get married? Can you remember? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you remembered that a person might choose to get married for love, commitment, legal benefits, religious reasons, or traditions.

Well done, if you remember this.

People may choose to get married as a sign of love for the other person.

Marriage can strengthen a couple's emotional bond and help them feel like they're taking their relationship to the next level in a meaningful way.

In love-based marriages, couples choose each other freely with or without their family's involvement.

While love provides an important foundation, successful marriages require ongoing effort and commitment as feelings can change over time.

Marriage is a sign of commitment to another person.

When couples get married, they make vows which are promises to each other, often in front of other loved ones about their dedication to the relationship.

This commitment can create security and trust between the partnership, helping couples feel ready to move forward with other relationship milestones.

Marriage represents a formal declaration of this commitment to each other, showing that couples are serious about building a future together.

This future could look different for every couple.

There are legal benefits as well that come with marriage, which include tax benefits, such as tax allowances, inheritance rights, and pension benefits.

These benefits are important for couples because they can create a sense of security and stability financially and practically.

This can make it easier to navigate the challenges of everyday life and the financial impacts of having a family.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing with this learning cycle.

The legal benefits of marriage can, a, make a couple less financially secure, b, create a sense of instability, or c, create a sense of financial stability and security.

What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that c is correct.

The legal benefits of marriage can create a sense of financial stability and security.

In many cases, it can make a couple more financially secure and it can create a sense of stability.

Well done, if you said the same thing.

Many people choose to get married for religious reasons.

Different religions view marriage as sacred and spiritually significant, more than just a legal agreement between two people.

Religious marriage ceremonies often include special vows, prayers and blessings, and religious rituals that have been practiced for centuries.

For religious couples, marriage represents their spiritual commitment to each other and connects them to their faith and religious community.

Some people choose to get married because of family and cultural traditions.

Traditional reasons for marriage include following customs passed down through generations, meeting family expectations, and celebrating in ways that connect them to their cultural heritage.

In many cultures, marriage is considered to be an important rite of passage and a community celebration that brings families together.

Let's do another check for understanding.

I'd like you to finish this sentence.

For religious couples, marriage is seen as, a, only a legal agreement, b, a spiritual commitment as well as a legal one, or c, less important than for non-religious couples.

What do you think? Pause the video, talk To the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that b is correct.

For religious couples, marriage is seen as a spiritual commitment as well as a legal one.

Well done, if you said the same thing.

Some couples have what's called an arranged marriage.

An arranged marriage is one where families play a significant role in selecting suitable potential partners.

The focus is often on family compatibility, similar values, and social status.

The arrangement is entered into freely by the couple.

It's different from a forced marriage, and this is important to remember.

In an arranged marriage, love can develop over time.

Some people prefer this approach because they can avoid the uncertainty of trying to find a potential partner themselves.

Let's do another check for understanding.

This time I'd like you to decide if this statement is true or false.

In an arranged marriage, only the parents decide who their child will marry.

What do you think? True or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that in an arranged marriage, the people getting married do so freely.

They can choose whether they want to marry the person suggested to them.

Remember that an arranged marriage is different from a forced marriage.

In a forced marriage, the person getting married doesn't get to choose.

In the UK, this is illegal.

And it's important to seek support if this is an issue that is worrying you.

Well done, if you had a similar answer to this.

We're now moving on to our first practice task and you can put your learning so far into practice.

For each reason a person might get married, can you explain why it's important? The first one has already been done for you.

So when a couple is getting married for love, the importance of this is that it strengthens a couple's emotional connection.

It's a declaration of love in front of loved ones.

Can you complete the table explaining the importance of getting married for commitment, legal benefits, religious reasons, and tradition? Pause the video and we'll go through what your table might look like in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

As we said before, a reason a couple might get married is for love and the importance of this is that it strengthens a couple's emotional connection.

It's a declaration of love in front of loved ones.

A couple might get married because of the commitment, and this is important because it creates a sense of emotional security and builds trust.

A couple might get married for the legal benefits.

This is important because it can create a feeling of financial security and stability.

And it can make it easier to navigate life's challenges.

A couple might get married for religious reasons.

The importance of this is that it connects couples to their faith and allows them to make sacred vows as part of their spiritual commitment.

And a couple might get married because of tradition.

The importance of this is that it helps couples follow family customs and feel connected to their cultural heritage and community.

Well done, if your table looked anything like mine.

It's now time to move on to our second learning cycle.

What are the key marriage laws in the UK? There are different types of marriage in the UK that are legally recognized.

Civil marriage, which is a non-religious marriage, religious marriage, same sex marriage.

This became legal in England and Wales in 2013, or their religious institutions can choose whether or not to perform them.

It's important to note that civil partnerships are legal unions that give two people similar rights and responsibilities to marriage.

However, a civil partnership is not the same as marriage, but it can be converted into one if the couple wishes.

There are several key laws governing marriage in the UK.

First of all, we have the Marriage Act 1949.

This covers restrictions on who can get married.

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 sets out legal rights in divorce and separation.

The marriage, Same Sex Couples, Act in 2013 introduced same sex, civil marriage.

The Anti-social Behavior, crime and Policing Act 2014 made forcing someone to marry illegal in England and Wales.

We are now going to talk about legal requirements for marriage.

People cannot get married in England and Wales if they're under 18, if they're already married, or in a civil partnership, if they're closely related to each other, if they don't consent to the marriage.

If any of these conditions are met, the marriage is void.

So, for example, if someone gets married under the age of 18, if they're already married, if a couple are closely related to each other or if one person in the couple doesn't consent to marriage, this means that the marriage is void and it's illegal.

We're now going to do a check for understanding to see how you are doing.

I'd like you to list the reasons that a marriage in England and Wales could be void.

Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that a marriage in England and Wales is void, if either one or both people are under 18, if one or both people are already married or in a civil partnership, if the couple are closely related, or if one or both people don't consent to the marriage.

Well done, if you remembered these reasons.

A forced marriage is when one or both people are made to marry without their free choice or without giving consent.

This can happen through violence, threats, emotional abuse, or deception.

Forced marriage is a serious crime that can cause significant harm to victims. Let's talk a little bit about the law in the UK around forced marriage.

The law in the UK makes forced marriage illegal.

It makes it a crime to force someone to marry or to take them abroad to be married against their will.

The law in the UK also provides protection for people at risk through a Forced Marriage Protection Order.

If someone is concerned that they are going to be forced to marry someone else, a Forced Marriage Protection Order can be carried out so that this can't happen.

Police Officer Kofi explains that "Marriage should always be a free choice.

If you or someone you know is at risk, there is support and legal protection available.

The police and support services are there to help and support you.

No one should be forced into marriage against their will." Let's do another check for understanding.

I'd like you to complete these sentences with the missing words.

Marriage should blank be a free choice, and forced marriage is blank in the UK.

Where I've said the word blank, can you decide which word is missing? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that the missing words were always and legal.

So our completed sentences should now be, marriage should always be a free choice, and forced marriage is illegal in the UK.

Well done, if you said the same thing.

We're now going to talk a little bit about age, marriage, and the law.

Marriage laws differ across the UK.

So in England and Wales, the minimum age to marry is now 18, while Scotland allows marriage at 16 with or without parental consent, and Northern Ireland currently follows the 16 with parental consent rule.

Marriage ceremonies must take place at a licensed venue.

This means that it's legally allowed to marry people.

Marriage ceremonies must have two or more witnesses.

They must contain legal vows, so these are certain words that you must say for a marriage to be legally binding.

This means recognized by the law.

Marriage ceremonies must also be registered and signed by a registrar.

This is a trained professional.

Some couples choose to get married in a religious ceremony.

A religious marriage ceremonies are legally recognized, as long as certain requirements, depending on the faith, are met.

This applies whether the ceremony takes place in a registered building or not.

Other couples choose to have a civil ceremony, which is a non-religious marriage conducted by a registrar at a licensed venue.

Some religious marriages require a couple to have a civil ceremony after the initial religious one.

Whether a couple has a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony, they will still receive a marriage certificate as legal proof of their marriage.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

And I'd like you to decide if this statement is true or false.

A marriage certificate is legal proof of a marriage.

Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that it is true.

It's true that a marriage certificate is legal proof of a marriage.

Well done, if you said the same thing.

Once a couple is married, they have legal rights, such as inheritance rights.

So for example, when a married partner dies without a will, and a will is a statement of how assets should be distributed once someone has died, the deceased partner's assets will automatically go to their spouse if there are no children.

If there are children, the surviving spouse receives half of their assets.

We're now going to talk about shared assets.

Assets are the wealth, property, or possessions acquired during a marriage.

So property, savings, pensions, and debts may be considered to belong to both partners, particularly things acquired during the marriage.

Even if one partner owns something individually, the other person may be able to claim a share during divorce if this happens.

We are now going to talk about financial support.

If a couple divorces and there is a large income gap, the higher earner may be required to provide financial support to the other.

This is particularly relevant for couples where one person is a stay-at-home parent and the other earns most of the money.

Parental rights.

Both members of a married couple have equal parental rights for their children.

This remains the case if they later divorce or separate, depending on the circumstances.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Is the statement true or false? If a marriage ends in divorce, the parental rights of the couple change.

What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done, if you said that this is false, but why? You Might have said that both members of a married couple have equal parental rights for their children.

They still keep these legal rights if they later divorce or choose to separate, depending on the circumstances.

Well done, if your answer is something like this.

It's now time to move on to our final practice task, and well done for your hard work in this lesson.

Around this image, I'd like you to label five of the laws around marriage in the UK.

Pause the video and we'll go through what you might have said in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that one of the laws is that couples must be at least 18 to get married in England and Wales, but they can get married at 16 in Scotland with or without parental consent.

Couples cannot already be married to someone else if they want to get married.

If a couple divorces, both parents maintain parental responsibility, depending on the circumstances.

And you might have said that same-sex marriage is also legal in the UK.

And that laws protect the financial security of both partners in divorce or death.

Well done, if your labels looked anything like this.

We're now going to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that marriage is a legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.

People choose to marry for various reasons, including love, commitment, legal benefits, religious reasons, and tradition.

Marriage can be an important milestone that strengthens relationships and connects couples to their communities.

UK marriage laws recognize different types of marriages and provide legal rights and protections to married couples.

And finally, we've learned that all marriages require proper consent from both people.

In this lesson, you might have found that you've got some worries or questions, and if you do, it's really important that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also some resources on the screen that are there to help you too.

Well done for your hard work inIn today's lesson.

I hope to see you again soon.