Basics Of Common Law Marriage
Common law marriage is a type of relationship that has many different legal names, such as “informal marriage” or “marriage by habit or repute”. Basically, common law marriage refers to the status of a man and a woman’s interpersonal relationship. There are many errors that people make when they try to define common law marriage. The most common of these is that common law marriages are not legally recognized like other marriages. In fact, common law marriages have all of the legal status of a conventional marriage and have all of the benefits. The only difference is in the wording and the terms.
There are some differences that are worth looking at in terms of common law marriages that go beyond semantics, however. For one, there is no actualized public record of a common law marriage, therefore, there is no marriage license. For this reason, common law marriages are not licensed by governments, but they are recognized. The marriage license does not necessarily serve as any sort of legal binding document to enable benefits. The benefits arrive strictly based on the overall status of the relationship. Common law marriages are also not necessarily delivered with a ceremony or “solemnized” so there is no need for witnesses in a common law marriage.
For these reasons, there is no such thing as common law divorce. A relationship merely ends, much like a dating relationship ends. The requirements for common law marriage are, however, much the same as they are for conventional marriage. This may differ from state to state, but essentially common law partners must agree to consent of union, be of legal age or have parents’ permission, and demonstrate a clear living pattern. There is, of course, much debate as to whether or not common law marriage should be referred to as a marriage. The real legal difference between that of a marriage and that of a common law marriage is simply that there is no licensing and no solemnized ceremony to bind the couple under legal implications. In a marriage, couples wanting to divorce must file legal documents. In a common law relationship, this is not necessary.
There are many differences, however, in the various aspects of common law marriages in terms of items such as marriage records and the variance from state to state. There are some states that require certain forms of marriage records to designate certain legal benefits. These are marriage records that, of course, no common law couple could possibly have because of the nature of their relationship. In instances like this, common law marriages are not equivalent under the law in terms of getting all of the benefits. There are other states, however, that see no difference in relationship other than the aforementioned semantic issues and will infer that all benefits are available to common law couples.
In terms of common law marriage, it seems that the distinction is almost entirely reliant on where the relationship exists. The benefits can change from state to state, so it is a good idea to do a little research on the various state benefits of common law marriage before a decision is made. It is very likely that, as a couple moves from state to state, the boundaries of the legal ramifications in terms of their common law marriage could change considerably.
By Relationships Editor
