Common Law Marriage: Am I married by accident?

A lot of misconceptions arise when discussing Common Law Marriage. Frequently, clients will provide details of their situations with their partners and sum it up with, “So I guess we’re common law married then?” Not necessarily.

Common Law Marriage is an agreement by the two parties to consider themselves married without having filed a certificate with the state. Many states recognize such a marriage and require that the parties dissolve their marriage through the standard divorce process, even though there is no certificate with the local records department indicating that the parties were, in fact, officially married via certificate. Dissolving a Common Law Marriage is no different from dissolving a certificate marriage: The parties still must account for their assets and debts and determine a parenting time schedule and let a judge issue a Decree of Dissolution.

Some states have been moving away from recognizing Common Law Marriage, although it is still available in the State of Colorado. Couples in Colorado can still hold themselves out as married and go through the typical divorce process if the marriage ends.

Determining whether parties are married by common law is a fact-based inquiry that considers a wide range of details about a couple’s life together. A court will consider whether the couples live together, their financial entanglements, whether they have children together, whether others in their community believe them to be married, and, perhaps most importantly, whether they themselves have considered themselves to be married. While a party to a Common Law Marriage may try to deny the marriage at the time of the dissolution, the court will consider not just what the party says on the stand; rather, the court will consider each party’s conduct throughout the relationship to analyze whether the totality of the circumstances supports a finding that the parties considered themselves married.

Because of the range of factors that the court will consider, it is difficult for a court to find that parties that never intended to be married, are, in fact, married. Both parties must have essentially acknowledged the marriage and held themselves out as such. Therefore, without a manifest intention from both parties, the answer to “Am I Common Law Married?” Is often NO.

Nevertheless, Gunning LLC can help untangle the facts and circumstances of a relationship if one party is claiming a marriage exists and the other is not. Gunning LLC has family law experience to give you answers about the strength of an argument in favor of Common Law Marriage, develop a strategy, and get you through the case. Call today for a free consultation.

*** This information should not be considered legal or professional advice and is provided for general informational purposes only. You should not apply the foregoing information without conferring with professional legal counsel about your particular matter.***