Many of today's young people are the children of divorced parents and, as such, learned first-hand the difficulties that can come with living through a rocky marriage. As a result, many are hoping to avoid divorce by delaying marriage until they are absolutely sure they have found the right person. Others are opting out of the institution altogether.

Recent data from the Pew Research Center shows that only 51 percent of adults over age 18 are married. In 1960, 72 percent of adults were married. What's more, the average age for a first marriage is higher than it has ever been - about 26 years old for women and 29 years old for men.

The decline in marriage rates is greatest among people age 18 to 29. When interviewed, many of these young people said that their desire to get married is outweighed by their fear of eventually going through a divorce.

Instead, young couples are choosing cohabitation as an alternative to marriage. However, these unmarried partnerships come with their own concerns.

Unmarried Partners May Still Need Legal Advice

Marriage offers a number of legal protections that are not available to unmarried couples. For example, married couples get preferential tax treatment, have the right to make medical decision on behalf of an incapacitated spouse and have inheritance rights if one partner dies without a will.

In Georgia, when a married couple has a child, the husband is automatically presumed to be the father. If the couple is unmarried, the father must receive an order of legitmation before he can have any legal rights or responsibilities with regard to the child.

Further, couples who have cohabitated for a long time may still have to engage in a divorce-like process if they break up. These couples often have significant joint property and mutual financial obligations that need to be divided.

A family law attorney can help unmarried couples with these issues and ensure that each partners' rights are protected.

Source: The Augusta Chronicle, "Staying Out of the Ring: Barely Half of Adults Wed," Leanne Italie, Jan. 5, 2012