While the common form of marriage is one that takes place under legal sanction and is recognized under a civil marriage contract, other forms exist as well. Common law marriage is a term used to identify the interpersonal status of a habitual relationship of longstanding.Believe it or not, your relationship could be recognized under legal jurisdictions even if no ceremony or legal contract were entered into prior to the change in status. These are informal marriages which pertain to relationships of habit that have come to be considered as somewhat equal to the status presented by a civilly registered married couple. For the common law jurisdictions that recognize these types of marriages, they are considered legally binding. However, in others they hold no legal consequence at all. However, the term is often used to describe domestic partnerships and long term non-marital relationships. Within the U.S., common law marriages can be contracted in Alabama, Colorado, the Dist rict of Columbia, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Although the rest of the nation does not contract common law marriages, every state will recognize and uphold a marriage of this type if it was validly contracted in one of the states mentioned above.You can discern whether or not yours is a relationship of common law marriage by comparing it to its distinctions from a civilly recognized marriage under law. Among these distinctions include the fact that no government authority will issue a marriage license. Even if they are recorded in public, they have not been licensed by government officials. Along the same lines, these types of marriages are not formally celebrated before witnesses in any type of wedding ceremony. Perhaps the single biggest and most important distinguishing factor of is that of cohabitation; however, a couple must meet standards beyond just living together. In addition, common law couples are of-age, currently unw ed individuals who have mutually agreed to a functioning relationship of marriage. Parental consent can also account for minors who wish to commit to a common law marriage.
It is relatively less easy to make the distinction between these types of relationships and unwed relationships of no common legal standing. However, applying the same set of distinguishers listed above to relationships of non-marital commitment will serve the purpose of identifying a normal relationship from that of a common law one. If there has not been mutual consent to a relationship constituting marriage, then it will not be one recognized as an informal marriage. Again, the important distinction lies within the fact that mere cohabitation is not enough to constitute this status.
In addition, it is important to differentiate between formal common law marriages and the relationships which have informally come to be referred to as common law marriages. In states which do not recognize this type of relationship status, the term is more frequently used to refer to domestic partnerships and long-term relationships of unwedded cohabitation. In some cases, these relationships have been prohibited by law to marry; for others, the decision was a personal choice. No matter what the reason, it must be acknowledged that the relationship is not one of civil union, nor is it one of a common law marriage. As such, the standards held to those who are living under common law marriage are not the same for those in same-sex partnerships and permanent, non-marital relationships.
For the states that permit them, common law marriages have come to be accepted as equally valid as a statutory marriage. In fact, some government institutions hold both sets of relationships to the same set of standards. For example, the Internal Revenue Service recognizes these marriages for federal income tax purposes and couples may be able to file joint returns or identify as, "married, filing separately." If you reside in a state which allows you to contemplate a relationship of this nature, then you should take heed to thoroughly understand the process before committing to this type of relationship status. While it is less formal than a statutory marriage, it is still upheld to many of the same legal standards, some as serious as matters of the IRS. Therefore, matters which fall under the jurisdiction of a common law marriage should be attended to by a legal divorce and family law attorney just as any matters of a typical marriage would.
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