Believe it or not, two of the most common questions concerning marriage that we come across in the state of California are:
“Aren’t my significant other and I considered married if we have been living together for X amount of time?”
Or
“I’ve been living and sharing the bills with the same person for X years, can’t we file “married” on our federal income taxes?”
In many states, including California, the answer to both of these questions is, no. The people that ask those questions are most likely referring to common- law marriage, and California does not validate common-law marriage.
The states that recognize common-law marriage are:
- Alabama
- Colorado
- District of Columbia
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Montana
- New Hampshire (inheritance only)
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Utah
What is Common-Law Marriage?
In these states, common-law marriages are considered to be just as valid as statutory marriages and are so based on the length of time that a couple has been together (amount of time varies by state). In these instances, these couples will be able to share in the benefits that married couples do.
Even though the state of California does not validate common-law marriage, the state does honor those that were common-law married in states that do recognize them. This means that a couple that is considered married via common-law in one state is considered married in the state of California and cannot simply move to another state to make their marriage go away.
In other words, just like traditionally married couples that wish to dissolve their marriage, couples that are married by common-law will have to go through the divorce process. They will need to divide their communal assets and decide on child custody and support issues if they pertain to their case. They will also need to decide if they would like to mediate or litigate their case and hire the proper divorce attorneys to take care of their family law situation.