Common Law Marriages

Thanks to another great suggestion from a "Wise Latina" from the Wise Latinas Linked network I am a part of, I have another blog topic: Common Law Marriages.  I wanted to expand the topic to talk about same sex marriages and civil unions but I will save that for a future blawg post.

I also invite you to visit the Wise Latinas Linked blog run by Rebecca Aguilar.  The blog is a great source of information that affects Latinas.

Common Law Marriages

So what is a common law marriage?  I'm sure you've heard that if you live with a partner long enough (usually 7 years) and you "act" married that "ta-da"! you are in a common law marriage.
Well, not really.

According to Black's Law Dictionary:

To be defined as a common-law marriage within the states that allow it, the two people must: agree that they are married, live together, and present themselves as husband and wife. Common-law marriage is generally a non-ceremonial relationship that requires "a positive mutual agreement, permanent and exclusive of all others, to enter into a marriage relationship, cohabitation sufficient to warrant a fulfillment of necessary relationship of man and wife, and an assumption of marital duties and obligations." Black's Law Dictionary 277 (6th ed. 1990).

But in fact, did you know that out of the 50 U.S. states only nine states actually recognize common law marriages? There are also rules that you have to follow to be deemed married under the common law in these states:

1. Alabama
2. Colorado
3. Kansas
4. Rhode Island
5. South Carolina
6. Iowa
7. Montana
8. Oklahoma
9. Texas
(oh and the District of Columbia)

Don't see your state listed above?  A few states have "grandfather clauses" where basically if you had a common law marriage established before a certain date they recognize your marriage (Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania).

Two other states allow a "common law marriage" in special circumstances.
New Hampshire: for probate purposes only
Utah: only if validated by a court order.

There are also rules that must apply for one of the nine states above to recognize your "common law marriage".  You can research each state's rule if you want, but generally you have to live together, and act like you're married (known as "holding out"), like filing joint tax returns, assuming a spouse's last name, etc.

The U.S. Constitution is supposed to require each state to respect the laws of their sister states but many states have challenged common law marriages that are not recognized in their state.  In other words, if you do have a valid common law marriage in your state, it is probably not a good idea to move to another state that doesn't recognize common law marriages. 

Oh, and once in you're in a common law marriage the only way out is a real divorce done in officially in court.

For more information:
If you want more information about common law marriages or you want to know what your particular state's laws are, I highly recommend the following website: The National Conference of State Legislatures. 

You've probably never heard of this organization but it's a great online resource.  It's a bi-partisan organization that provides information for policymakers and legislators.  They have an "issues and research" section that is further subdvided into sub-topics such as "human services", "education" and "health". The site provides a breakdown of each state's position on popular topics and you can read about proposed bills.