States That Recognize Common-Law Marriage

What Is a Common-Law Marriage?

A common-law marriage is a legally recognized marriage between two people who haven’t purchased a marriage license or engaged in a ceremony overseen by an officiant. Common-law marriage is permitted in several U.S. states. Not all states address this arrangement with a statute; some use public policy or case law to determine validity.

Choosing Common-Law Marriage

Some couples choose to forgo the legalities of marriage and opt for a common-law relationship instead. This type of union recognizes a couple as being somewhat equivalent to being legally married, even if vows weren’t exchanged in a civil or religious ceremony and a marriage license wasn’t obtained.

States that allow common-law marriage may not have statutes in place, but require conditions to be met for a couple to be considered married by common law. These include:

• The couple lives together in a state that recognizes common-law marriages.
• They live together for a consistent period, such as seven or 10 years.
• They introduce themselves to friends, neighbors, and coworkers as a married couple, calling each other “my husband” or “my wife” and perhaps using the same last name.
• They maintain joint finances such as leases/mortgages, bank accounts, and credit cards.
• Neither partner is married to anyone else.

Benefits of Common-Law Marriage

• Tax returns: Common-law couples can’t file joint tax returns with the IRS if they live in a state where common-law marriage isn’t recognized. They must either file separately or as head of household. Couples recognized as married by common law enjoy many benefits as legally married couples, however, provided that they have lived in a state that recognizes common law for most of their marriage.
• Separation: A common-law marriage can only be legally ended by divorce in states where the practice is recognized.
• Social Security: Partners can receive spousal Social Security benefits if they can prove the number of years they lived together in a common-law state.
• Medical benefits: Combining health insurance policies may reduce the amount paid in monthly premiums compared to those paid individually when a couple is recognized as married in an eligible state.
• Tax benefits: Recognized common-law marriage partners are exempt from the gift tax for gifts to each other. They enjoy unlimited marital exemptions for their estate up to the federal estate tax limit, and they can claim deductions for mortgage interest if they co-own a house or have children.
• Wills: Inheritance of a common-law spouse’s property is allowed with a valid will. Their children and other family members assume the inheritance rights, however, if they die without a will. This leaves the surviving common-law spouse with nothing.
• POA: Use of a medical power of attorney (POA) designating a common-law spouse as the person to make medical decisions when they’re incapable is allowed.

Where It’s Legal

Nine states and the District of Columbia recognize common-law relationships, and each has specific requirements that must be met.

• Colorado: It’s recognized if contracted on or after Sept 1, 2006. Common-law spouses must be 18 or older and not prohibited by other laws.
• Iowa: Common-law marriage is recognized under state statute regarding the support of dependents.
• Kansas: Couples must be mentally capable of committing, must be 18 or older to marry, and must represent themselves as married in the community.
• Montana: Common-law marriage isn’t prohibited, and it’s not invalidated by the state’s marriage chapter.
• New Hampshire: This state’s statute uses the term “cohabitation” rather than “common-law marriage.” It says that such unions can be recognized solely for inheritance purposes. This may occur when an estate is settled after one of the partners dies if the couple lived together for three years before the death.
• Oklahoma: Common-law marriage has been the subject of conflict between state law and the courts. However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court validated the legitimacy of common-law marriage in the state in 2001. To be considered married under common law, individuals must prove that they’re living together, financially interdependent, and not related by blood, which would prohibit marriage. They must also be age 18 or older to be recognized as qualified common law spouses.
• Rhode Island: Both partners must intend to be married and make the marriage public in some way, such as by sharing a last name, bank accounts, or assets. They can’t be married to anyone else or be closely related to each other.
• Texas: Both parties in an informal marriage must consent to be married, live together, and tell others they’re married.
• Utah: Both partners must be able to agree to the marriage, and others must know them as a married couple for a “marriage not solemnized” to be recognized.
• Washington, D.C.: In the District of Columbia, common-law marriage requires that partners have a “mutual and express agreement” to be married to one another. They also have to cohabitate and be allowed to marry under the law.

Some states have ruled that only unions that had met the state requirements for a common-law marriage by a specified date will be recognized. These states and dates are:

• Alabama: Jan. 1, 2017
• Georgia: Jan. 1, 1997
• Idaho: Jan. 1, 1996
• Ohio: Oct. 10, 1991
• Pennsylvania: Jan. 1, 2005. Partners must also exchange vows to be married “by an exchange of words in the present tense, spoken with the specific purpose that the legal relationship of husband and wife is created by that.”
• South Carolina: South Carolina abolished common-law marriages on July 24, 2019, but it recognizes common-law marriages that occurred before that date.

History of Common-Law Marriage

Common-law unions were prevalent on the European continent in the Middle Ages. The Council of Trent mandated weddings that were performed by a priest and two witnesses in Roman Catholic nations.

The concept of a common-law marriage was defended at the New York Surrogate’s Court in October 1955. The case involved the passing of John Tummalty, who had a long-standing relationship with someone with whom he didn’t have a formal ceremonial marriage. The court ruled that society wouldn’t benefit if such relationships in which children could be born were no longer considered valid in the eyes of the law.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Meister v. Moore in 1877 that a non-ceremonial marriage could be lawful and enforceable if a state’s law did not specifically prohibit it.

The Bottom Line

Common-law marriage is legally recognized in several states. Couples who meet their states’ requirements are eligible for most of the financial benefits of a married couple, including Social Security and tax benefits.