Understanding Common-Law Marriage
Do you think that you’re in a common-law marriage or do you have some questions about what it takes to establish one? My name’s Carl Birkhead. I’m an attorney with Wirth Law Office. I’ve been practicing for about seven years and I want to help you make law easy by just explaining a little bit about what common-law marriage is, what the elements are, and what you need to prove or disprove that you’re in one.
So I’m talking about this one because I just had a case come in about this recently. My client’s other side is claiming that they were in a common-law marriage. My client’s saying that there isn’t one. So we’re trying to go through it and see whether or not one exists.
Proving Common-Law Marriage
The best thing that you need to remember if you’re trying to look at whether or not a common-law marriage exists is whether is there a meeting of the minds. What that means is do you and your partner both agree that you all are married? Do you refer to yourself as hubby and wifey? Do you introduce yourselves to your friends as Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Do you check into a hotel under the same name?
It’s a lot more than just simply living in the same house. Nowadays, so many people just cohabitate without being married, and they do it for a very specific reason they want to avoid marriage. So it comes down to what evidence you have to show that you are married.
Disproving Common-Law Marriage
On the other hand, if you’re trying to prove that there isn’t one, those are the things that you need to show as well. Never file taxes together. All of your friends and family know that you were just dating. It’s either one or it’s the other. And if you have questions about which one it is, odds are you probably aren’t married at all.
Get Legal Guidance Today
If you have questions about common-law marriages, you think that you might be in one, or if you are in a situation where someone’s trying to snare you into one when you don’t want to be in one, contact us at 918-879-1681 and we can help you out. My name’s Carl Birkhead. I’m with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy. Thank you.
