Family Register

[door60]

What is the family register about? On a couple of these dramas, they mention the family register. It seems once they get married, they register. But if they never register their marriage, what is the significance? The state deos not recognize the marriage?

[sheila]

The family register lists the names of people in the household. Usually a man is listed as the head of the household. Then the names and DOB of all the other people living in the household and their relationship to the head. So say the head of the household has a wife listed on his family register, he would not be able to say he is a bachelor.

Its like whether a couple are just living together or whether they are legally husband and wife.

[TheBo]

Also, I believe when you die they strike your name. I think until that is done, the spouse cannot remarry. That's why in "Wife" it was so traumatic for the family to go down and register the death of the missing man, it meant he was really, truly dead, and also, that she would not really be part of the family any more because she'd have to go on a different register if she remarried. It all seems very complicated to me. There seems to be some element of bad luck in speaking of a person who is "off register," too...but that might have been a misreading on my part...

Also, in Wife, the "alternate wife" did not register her marriage because her husband did not remember his past and so (a) she did not know his register, and (b) she was afraid someone would find out who he was and take him away from her if she put him on her father's register. As a consequence, their son was pretty much nonexistent (and illegitimate) in the eyes of the state.

Oh, AND, registries are in different places. They are physically kept in the region where the first family patriarch registered, I believe. The information can be shared by computer, but actual papers have to be filed in that registry office for things to be legit. At least, that's what appeared to be necessary in the drama, Yellow Handkerchief.

Bo

[sheila]

Oh, I don't think so. If the man - assuming he is head of the household dies - they would have to change the register to show who is the new head of household. If the widow (or is the woman, a widower? I always get that confused) is the sister-in-law of the new head, that relationship is entered. She can remain on the register.

If a daughter is the only next head - for example if Sua's father did not remarry - Sua would be listed as head of her household when her father dies. Her husband can come under her register and so too their children. The children will take her surname in that case.

TheBo, are you referring to the previous series before likeable or not? I watched it off and on but am not really familiar with the plot. The woman found out she was pregnant when she divorced her husband. Legally that would have invalidated the divorce since the husband didn't know about the baby. In the show, she made a drama of how the husband's rich family could take her child away from her and her cop boyfriend said the law had changed. The cop was not well verse on the law as the reality was that she had no legal standing even if her husband was poorer than her. If the husband knew about the baby and still agreed to go ahead with the divorce then he could not later turn around and claim the child.

[TheBo]

sheila said:

Oh, I don't think so. If the man - assuming he is head of the household dies - they would have to change the register to show who is the new head of household. If the widow (or is the woman, a widower? I always get that confused) is the sister-in-law of the new head, that relationship is entered. She can remain on the register.

If a daughter is the only next head - for example if Sua's father did not remarry - Sua would be listed as head of her household when her father dies. Her husband can come under her register and so too their children. The children will take her surname in that case.

TheBo, are you referring to the previous series before likeable or not? ....

I'm sorry, Sheila, I was writing ten different things yesterday and I tend to get garbled in ANY case, LOL.

First, "Wife" is a show that was on several years ago. That's what I was referencing in my whole post, so I may have misremembered some things or gotten a wrong impression at the time. "Wife" was about two women who married the same man, because he went on a business trip, got into an accident, lost his memory and was missing for, like, five years before he was finally found by his first wife's new fiancé ( ! ). So you can see, that would have been a totally traumatic, mixed up situation.

And I'm not referring to the present series at all, because I cannot watch it. I just saw a question on registries and thought I'd get into the discussion (with my probably totally erroneous information!). LOL.

However, when I said the wife would have to be taken off the register, I was referring to the situation where she remarries (as was going to happen in "Wife"). I did not mean she became "dead" and was stricken automatically from the register just because her husband died. Sorry about that.

Bo

PS - Widow = female bereaved (The Merry Widow et al.)
Widower = male bereaved ;D ;D ;D
See, I'm good for something. LOL.