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Marriage and the Election
Dear Friends of Marriage,
There is a lot of talk on both sides in this election that this is the most important election this century. Most of this is exaggeration to try and motivate people to vote for one candidate or the other. But in one...
Marriage, Divorce, and Kids
It’s been said that one of the problems that married couples have today is that men tend to choose their wives the same way they choose their cars or trucks. They get the best one available and hope that there’s not much maintenance down the road. ...
Signs of a Respectable Russian Marriage Agency
Considering the entire process could cost anything from $8000 USD to $15000 USD it is crucial that a real agency be found and used. Try typing the words “Russian marriage agency” into a search engine and you can easily get 300 000 hits. Sifting...
What is Normal Sexuality in Marriage?
What Is Normal Sexuality in Marriage? Everyone wonders about this. Do our friends "do it" more often than we do? Does anyone else have this problem in which one partner has high desire, and the other one has little to none? We must be really...
You’re A Mom, She’s A Mom: Being An Adult With Your Parents
On one of her quarterly visits to see her grandson, my three-year-old son, my mother ignores the available front seat of the car, crowds into the back next to the car seat and promptly unwraps a lollipop. Feeling the tension rising, I recall...
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The legal fiction of common-law marriage
During a radio-talk show appearance, a caller told me about his unfortunate brush with the legal fiction of common-law marriage. He had been living with a woman for several weeks when he came home one evening to find the woman, his TV and assorted other property missing. He called the police, who mistakenly informed him that the woman was his common-law wife and so they couldn’t help him.
What qualifies as a common-law marriage? Take your pick:
1. Leaving too many clothes at your girlfriend’s house?
2. Living together six months
3. Living together seven years?
Chances are you picked the third answer, but all three response are equally wrong. A common misconception is that the length of cohabitation creates common-law status. This is not true.
Three elements are necessary and none relate to a time-frame. A couple must
1. Live together
2. Agree between themselves to be marriage
3. Represent themselves as married (also called “holding-out.”)
The agreement in the second element does not have to be written; it can be implied by the behavior of the parties. Signing leases as husband and wife or filing joint income tax returns are examples of the proof
used to imply a common-law marriage.
In the example above, the police, as are most people, were woefully misinformed.
Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and D.C. recognize common-law marriages. Ohio repealed its recognition in 1992. Pennsylvania has just now abolished it. Other states may recognize an informal marriage if it was originally contracted within one of these states.
In the past, common-law marriage was often seen on the lower socio-economic rungs of the ladder. However, celebrities often make the news with claims by their live-ins of this status.
If you are concerned about your own status, contact an attorney in your state for more information.
About the Author
Johnette Duff is a Matrimonial Attorney licensed to practice in the state of Texas. Ms. Duff is the author of “The Spousal Equivalent Handbook”: a legal and financial guide to living together, “The Marriage Handbook”: a legal and financial guide to your spousal rights, and “Love After 50”: the complete legal and financial guide. She has helped thousands of individuals build successful relationships.
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| Marriage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Marriages are generally publicly declared in the context of a wedding ceremony. ... The term wedlock is a synonym for marriage, and is mainly used in the ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Marriage Builders ® - Successful Marriage Advice |
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| www.marriagebuilders.com |
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| Christian Marriages - Families Christianity Free Newsletters Sex ... |
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| Marriage -- THE starting place for exploring marriage |
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| marriage.about.com |
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| Marriage - Wex |
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| Smart Marriages |
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| University of the Family - Marriage Ministries International |
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| www.marriage.org |
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| USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts |
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| National Marriage Project Home Page |
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| UK BMD Births, Marriages and Deaths Indexes Online. Baptims, Burials, Monumental Inscriptions, Cemetry, Cemetries, Civil Registration, GRO Indexes, BMD, ... |
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| Welcome to Worldwide Marriage Encounter Home Page |
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| www.wwme.org |
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| Alternatives to Marriage Project |
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| www.unmarried.org |
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| Marriage Equality USA (index.shtml) |
| Group solely committed to securing the right to civil marriage for same-sex couples. Related facts, membership information, and chapters. |
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| President Calls for Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage |
| President Bush on Tuesday said, "The amendment should fully protect marriage, while leaving the state legislatures free to make their own choices in ... |
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| Marriage in Ancient Rome |
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| Instructions to Obtain a Marriage Certificate Copy |
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| www.dhfs.state.wi.us |
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| Judaism 101: Marriage |
| Learn about the Jewish concept of finding your soul mate, Jewish weddings, the process of acquiring a spouse, and the marital relationship. |
| www.jewfaq.org |
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| the marriage toolbox |
| www.marriagetools.com/ - Similar pages |
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| American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy |
| Professionally developed resources for practitioners and consumers of marriage and family therapy. Site also offers a search engine for finding a qualified ... |
| www.aamft.org |
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