living together before marriage: opinions?

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by 33girl

In those states, do you need to declare yourself married to be common law married? I hope that makes sense. We used to have it in PA, but we don't anymore (unless you're grandfathered in).

And this is off topic, but partnered or not, married or not, EVERYONE should have a will.

I thought some states just had a time limit, like 7 years of cohabitation, that was automatically a common law marriage. I didn't think that required declaring that you're married or even knowing that your cohabitation was covered under the law.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I thought some states just had a time limit, like 7 years of cohabitation, that was automatically a common law marriage. I didn't think that required declaring that you're married or even knowing that your cohabitation was covered under the law.

You are correct. In some states it's 5 years, in others its 7 years. In other states, at one time it could be contracted, but can no longer be. Several states have never permitted common-law marriage: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, NC, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington West Va and Wyoming..

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

In those states, do you need to declare yourself married to be common law married? I hope that makes sense. We used to have it in PA, but we don't anymore (unless you're grandfathered in).

And this is off topic, but partnered or not, married or not, EVERYONE should have a will.

You have to "intend" to be married. It's not just living with someone for 5-7 years, it's the intent behind it.

<-Took a family law class and it came in handy.. whooo!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

You have to "intend" to be married. It's not just living with someone for 5-7 years, it's the intent behind it.

<-Took a family law class and it came in handy.. whooo!

The factors are very different from state to state.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Kevin

The factors are very different from state to state.

Indeed but from here Wiki
Intent to be married, considering each other husband and wife, mutual agreement to the marriage, and/or representing yourself as husband and wife to others are in every set of standards.

So you do have to intend to be married/to show you're married in each state.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Indeed but from here Wiki
Intent to be married, considering each other husband and wife, mutual agreement to the marriage, and/or representing yourself as husband and wife to others are in every set of standards.

So you do have to intend to be married/to show you're married in each state.

Wikipedia is a bad place to be doing legal research -- just FYI

Also, burden of proof is something I don't think Wiki talks about. It probably varies from state to state as well. This is no small matter because the difference between "by a preponderance of the evidence" and "by clear and convincing evidence" is vast. In Oklahoma, it is the later. I'm not sure what it is anywhere else. Also, keep in mind that none of those factors is individually dispositive. While you might have some proof to all of them, you still may fail to meet your evidentiary burden.

To date, I've helped prepare three common law marriage cases. To date, I've never seen a common law marriage proved.

While things might be clear now, imagine how unclear things might become when there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets/debt to allocate. Memories become very hazy and can often lead parties to attempt to mislead the court at this point. You can begin to see how difficult it can be to prove the existence of all of these things by clear and convincing evidence.

-- but then, the burden might be different from state to state.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Wikipedia is a bad place to be doing legal research -- just FYI

I doubt she's going to be bringing a Wiki page to court with her, or drafting up a will using a Wiki guide.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Wikipedia is a bad place to be doing legal research -- just FYI

And I can think of better sites to use for quick facts for the sake of discussion.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Wikipedia is a bad place to be doing legal research -- just FYI

Lol, hence why I'm not a lawyer. Seriously it was just a comment, I'm not emotionally invested in the rules behind common law marriage and I'm not going to findlaw.com to look up the rules for each state.