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For example, say Alice and Barbara legally married in some country where same-sex marriage is allowed. They then go to a country where same-sex marriage is not allowed. While there, Alice is run down by a car, rendered unconscious, and hospitalized. Barbara, being the next of kin, would "usually" get to decide what medical procedures Alice should undergo. But they are in a country where same-sex marriage is not recognized. Does Barbara still get to decide what medical procedures Alice undergoes?

I imagine this must have happened before, but I'm unable to find results for this with a Google search (e.g. there doesn't appear to be anything relevant in this link), hence I'm asking this question.

If this varies between jurisdictions, I'm interested in all of them. If there is enough variation that the question becomes too broad, assume the UAE.

Allure
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The authorities ignore Barbara

Typically.

Before the recognition of same sex relationships in , but after decriminalisation of homosexuality, people who were in that position were simply ignored. “You say you’re the next of kin? No, you aren’t. F#@k off.”

Before decriminalisation, you kept your mouth shut because you didn’t want to a) go to jail, or b) get bashed by the cops. The latter remained a risk for many years after decriminalisation. Note that this is still the situation in many countries today.

Dale M
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Turns out this has happened before.

In this case two British men who legally married went to Australia, where one of them died. Australia did not recognize same-sex marriage at the time, which led to two practical consequences:

  1. The death certificate said the dead man was "never married".
  2. The dead man's father was the one who made end-of-life decisions.

Presumably, this is the case in other countries, as well.

Allure
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Many jurisdictions have the legal concept of "medical proxy" -- a person designates someone who is authorized to make medical decisions on their behalf in cases where they are not able to voice them themselves. Without such a designation, there are default provisions, such as a spouse or parent.

If a married couple expects to travel to places where their marriage is not recognized, their best course of action is to designate each other as their medical proxy. This relationship would hopefully be accepted by those other jurisdictions.

Barmar
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