Professor: When you have two clients who are a couple but you don't know if they're married or whether they plan to get married, what do you do?
Classmate: Well, I would delineate all the advantages of marriage: larger tax brackets, tenancy in entirety as a default, the ability to act as each other's agent. Then I would outline the disadvantages: joint liability, etc. Then after a fair appraisal of all the legal consequences they could knowledgably tell me whether they want to enter into the contract of marriage or choose to forgo that option all together.
Professor: Russell, what would you say to these clients?
Russ: I'd say, "So, guys, do I hear wedding bells?"
