Common Law Marriage State Washington
Common Law Marriage State Washington
Common-law marriage in the United States was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in Meister v. Moore (96 U.S. 76 (1877)), which ruled that Michigan had not abolished common law marriage merely by producing a statute establishing rules for the solemnization of marriages. Common-law marriage can still be contracted in 11 states and the District of Columbia, can no longer be contracted in 26 states, and was never permitted in 13 states. The requirements for a common-law marriage to be validly contracted differ from state to state. Nevertheless, all states — including those that have abolished the contract of common-law marriage within their boundaries — recognize common-law marriages lawfully contracted in those jurisdictions that permit it.
General principles
The status of common-law marriage in the United States varies by state. In Meister v. Moore , 96 U.S. 76 (1877), the United States Supreme Court, relying on Hutchins v. Kimmell , 31 Mich. 126 (1875) ruled that Michigan had not abolished common-law marriage merely by producing a statute which established rules for the solemnization of marriages, because it did not require marriages to be solemnized: it required only that, if a marriage was solemnized, it could be solemnized only as provided by law. Otherwise, the court found that, as the right to marry existed at common law, the right to marriage according to the tradition of that common law remained valid until such time as state law affirmatively changed it. The Court did not find it necessary to pass special legislation specifically outlawing the common law contract of a marriage, but it was sufficient for a state's general marriage statutes to clearly indicate no marriage would be valid unless the statutory requirements enumerated were followed.
While a number of U.S. states recognize either same-sex marriage, or domestic partnerships with the same legal incidents, as marriage, no U.S. state except Iowa, where the law is untested, currently recognizes same sex common-law marriages. The Federal Defense of Marriage Act permits any state not to recognize same-sex marriages from another state, and provides that the federal government will not recognize any same-sex marriages.
Income Tax
The IRS does recognize common-law marriages, other than same-sex marriages, if the marriage is recognized by the taxpayer’s state of residency. If the marriage is recognized under the law and customs of the state in which the marriage takes place (even if the state is a foreign country), the marriage is valid (Rev. Rul. 58-66). Practitioners should be alert to the specific state requirements necessary for their clients contemplating filing joint returns under common-law marriage statutes.
Availability by State
Common-law marriage can still be contracted in eleven states (Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire (posthumously), Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah) and in the District of Columbia.
Note there is no such thing as "common-law divorce" — that is, you can't get out of a common-law marriage as easily as you can get into one. Only the contract of the marriage is irregular; everything else about the marriage is perfectly regular. People who marry per the old common law tradition must petition the appropriate court in their state for a dissolution of marriage.
The situation in Pennsylvania became unclear in 2003 when an intermediate appellate court purported to abolish common-law marriage ( PNC Bank Corporation v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Stamos) , 831 A.2d 1269 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2003)) even though the state Supreme Court had recognized (albeit somewhat reluctantly) the validity of common-law marriages only five years before. ( Staudenmayer v. Staudenmayer , 552 Pa. 253, 714 A.2d 1016 (1998).) The Pennsylvania legislature resolved most of the uncertainty by abolishing common-law marriages entered into after January 1, 2005. (Act 144 of 2004, amending 23 Pa.C.S. Section 1103.) However, it is still not certain whether Pennsylvania courts will recognize common-law marriages entered into after the date of the Stamos decision and before the effective date of the statute (i.e., after September 17, 2003, and on or before January 1, 2005), because the other intermediate appellate court has suggested that it might not follow the Stamos decision. (Compare Bell v. Ferraro , 2004 PA Super 144, 849 A.2d 1233 (4/28/2004), with Stackhouse v. Stackhouse , 2004 PA Super 427, 862 A.2d 102 (11/10/2004).)
Common-law marriages can no longer be contracted in the following states, as of the dates given: Alaska (1917), Arizona (1913), California (1895), Florida (1968), Georgia (1997), Hawaii (1920), Idaho (1996), Illinois (1905), Indiana (1958), Kentucky (1852), Maine (1652, when it became part of Massachusetts; then a state, 1820), Massachusetts (1646), Michigan (1957), Minnesota (1941), Mississippi (1956), Missouri (1921), Nebraska (1923), Nevada (1943), New Mexico (1860), New Jersey (1939), New York (1933, also 1902–1908), North Dakota (1890), Ohio (1991), Pennsylvania (2005), South Dakota (1959), and Wisconsin (1917).
The following states never permitted common-law marriages: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Note that common-law marriage was never known in Louisiana, which is a French civil or code law jurisdiction, not an English common law jurisdiction. As such, it is a former Council of Trent jurisdiction.
Nevertheless, all states — including those that have abolished the contract of common-law marriage within their boundaries — recognize common-law marriages lawfully contracted in those jurisdictions that permit it. This is because all states provide that validity of foreign marriage is determined per lex loci celebrationis - that is, "by law of the place of celebration." Thus, a marriage validly contracted in Ohio, including common-law marriages entered into before that state abolished new common-law marriages in 1991, is valid in Indiana, even if it could not be legally contracted in Indiana because Ohio law is the basis of its validity. However, a marriage that was not lawfully contracted in Ohio would not be valid in Indiana even if it could have been lawfully contracted there , by the same principle.
Common law marriage determinations frequently refrain from identifying a specific date of marriage in common law marriage cases when this is not necessary, because often, there is no one marriage ceremony that establishes this date. Even when a relationship begins in a state that does not recognize common law marriage, a common law marriage between the parties is often recognized if that relationship continues at a time when the parties relocate to a state that does recognize common law marriage. It is not uncommon for someone to claim to be a spouse based upon time the couple spent together in a common law marriage state even after the couple leaves that state. The case law does not definitively establish whether a brief presence in a common law marriage state by a couple who otherwise are eligible to have a common law marriage, that does not establish domicile in that state, gives rise to a common law marriage that must be recognized in a state that does not itself have common law marriage.
Additionally, some courts have held that all marriages performed within the U.S. must be valid in all states under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution. (See e.g. Thomas v. Sullivan, 922 F.2d 132, 134 (2d Cir. 1990)) However, none of the cases to date has actually used the Clause to validate a sister-state marriage, and the question shows no sign of reaching the U.S. Supreme Court - whose decision would apply nationally, not just locally or within a federal circuit.
Elements required for the establishment of a common-law marriage
The requirements for a common-law marriage to be validly contracted differ in the eleven states which still permit them.
Alabama
A valid common law marriage exists when there is capacity to enter into a marriage, the man and woman must be at least 16 with legal parental consent and present agreement or consent to be husband and wife, public recognition of the existence of the marriage, and consummation. Waller v. Waller, 567 So.2d 869 (Ala.Civ.App. 1990). See also, Hudson v. Hudson, 404 So.2d 82 (Ala.Civ.App. 1981). ( Alabama Attorney General - FAQ: Marriage/Divorce ).
Colorado
The elements of a common-law marriage are, with respect to both spouses: (1) holding themselves out as husband and wife; (2) consenting to the marriage; (3) cohabitation; and (4) having the reputation in the community as being married. Different sources disagree regarding the requirement of cohabitation and some indicate that consummation (i.e. post-marital sexual intercourse) is also an element of common law marriage. Colorado, by statute, no longer recognizes common law marriages entered by minors in Colorado, and also does not recognize foreign common law marriages entered into by minors, even if that marriage would have been valid where entered into under local law. See Section 14-1-109.5, Colorado Revised Statutes. The constitutionality of this limitation as applied to foreign marriages has not been tested in litigation.
Colorado is the only U.S. state, other than Montana, to recognize both putative marriage and common law marriage..
The District of Columbia
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