Andrew Koppelmanis professor of law and political science at Northwestern University... (wikipedia)
There are an awful lot of relationships in contemporary America that are unfamiliar to traditional American law. American law is either going to recognize and accommodate them, or to ... rearrange assets in what is basically a random fashion.
It will take some time to figure out what the dynamics of the court are. It will take them awhile to get to know each other.
For federal purposes, civil unions are not marriages.