I’m addressing one paragraph of your post. What happens if one dies? Do the children not have another parent listed on their birth certificate?
What if both die?
What if there’s property? That’s what a will is for, that answers both these silly questions
Many people do not, in fact, have wills. And without a will, and a clear set of legal guidelines, what happens to the children and property? These situations can lead to long, contentious, and expensive court cases. The laws did not come into being because of politicians wanting to exercise greater control over their subjects--they were a result of the desire to have a standardized protocol to use in the cases when both parents died.