I actually agree with tw.
He's right, marriage is all about legal rights, care and survivorship.
I won't even get into the whole "love, honor and cherish" thing.
I also have personally witnessed scenes such as he described and wished things were different so that the partner wouldn't get screwed at such a stressful time. I've even heard of one man being forcibly excluded from the funeral of his longtime lover.
To me, this is wrong.
Brian