CHURCH: Under the law there are no such things as Christian Marriages. However the closest form of marriage to the ideals of the Christian faith is that of the Marriage Act, by reason purely of its monogamous requirement and the strictness of the requirement for its dissolution and the most prominent role of the consent or choice of the primary participants as against that of their family. While the church may be unable to determine the validity of marriages conducted outside its view, it does usually have a say on the marriage ceremonies brought to it for its celebration.

The deficiencies of the marriage vis a vis the acceptable church standard, notwithstanding the validity of marriages under the law today (within the physical realm) rests outside the church, since the church sees marriages, as more than a physical thing. Unfortunately the state which sees only within the physical cannot but be blinded to the spiritual side of marriage.

INHERITANCE IN MARRIAGE
Arising from the choice of marriage are various rights of inheritance which stem from the death, dissolution or status of a spouse to the marriage:
Inheritance of a man's property by his widow and children are determined by whether the man left a Will or not.
It is therefore the position of the law that a man has the primary right of determining how his property is to be used including how it is inherited.
Where a man disposes all his interest (property) capable of being disposed by will, the matter is settled, irrespective of the type of marriage he entered into in his life.

INTESTATE:
Where a man (or woman) dies intestate i.e. without making a will in his lifetime, then the various laws of inheritance comes to play in the manner of administering the estate.
Depending on the choice of marriage, the laws of inheritance in the case of an intestate varies and will be categorized broadly into two in the line of the 2 broad types of marriages recognised by the law .