A common law marriage is a legally valid union between two people who never got a marriage license or held a ceremony, formed instead by meeting a specific set of legal requirements in a state that still allows it. Only a small number of U.S. jurisdictions recognize new common law marriages today, and where they do, the marriage carries exactly the same legal weight as any ceremonial one. No state requires a specific number of years of living together, and none ever has.
The Seven-Year Rule Does Not Exist
The most widespread belief about common law marriage is that seven years of cohabitation automatically makes a couple married. No state has ever had this rule. Duration of living together, on its own, has never been enough to create a marriage anywhere in the United States. Couples become common law spouses only by meeting every element their state requires, and long-term cohabiting couples in states that do not recognize these marriages do not become married by the passage of time.
Where Common Law Marriage Is Still Recognized
New common law marriages can currently be formed in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, and the District of Columbia.1National Conference of State Legislatures. Common Law Marriage by State
Utah recognizes these relationships too, but with a procedural twist: a court or administrative agency has to validate the union, either while the couple is together or within one year after they separate or one partner dies.2State of Utah Judiciary. Judicial Recognition of a Relationship as a Marriage
New Hampshire takes the narrowest approach. It treats a relationship as a marriage only for inheritance purposes after one partner dies, and only if the couple lived together and were generally known as married for at least three years before the death.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes 457:39 – Cohabitation
South Carolina ended the practice in 2019. In Stone v. Thompson, its Supreme Court ruled that no one may enter a common law marriage in South Carolina after July 24, 2019, though unions formed before that date remain valid.4Justia Law. Stone v. Thompson – 2019 – South Carolina Supreme Court
States That Only Recognize Older Marriages
A few states honor common law marriages that were formed before a specific date but do not permit new ones. Georgia recognizes unions formed before January 1, 1997. Pennsylvania recognizes those established before January 1, 2005. Ohio accepts marriages formed before October 10, 1991.1National Conference of State Legislatures. Common Law Marriage by State Couples in these states have to prove they met every legal requirement before the applicable cutoff.
What It Takes to Form One
Sharing a home does not create a common law marriage. Recognizing jurisdictions look for a combination of elements, and specifics vary by state, but the core requirements are consistent.
- Legal capacity. Both people must be at least 18, mentally competent to consent, and not already married to someone else. Colorado and Kansas both codify the age-18 floor for common law marriages specifically.1National Conference of State Legislatures. Common Law Marriage by State
- A present agreement to be married. Both partners must intend to be married right now, not at some point in the future. Vague plans to eventually marry do not count.
- Cohabitation. The couple must actually live together. What matters is that the arrangement looks like a genuine domestic partnership rather than a temporary convenience.
- Holding yourselves out as married. The couple must publicly present as married: using the same last name, introducing each other as spouses, filing taxes jointly, and generally behaving so that others believe them to be married. Without this public element, the relationship stays a private arrangement.
Texas puts these elements directly into its Family Code, which lets a marriage be proved by showing the couple agreed to be married, lived together in the state, and represented to others that they were married.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.401 – Proof of Informal Marriage Most other recognizing states apply a similar framework through case law.
Same-sex couples can form common law marriages in any recognizing state following the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, and the federal government treats those marriages as it treats any other.6Federal Register. Definition of Spouse Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
Deadlines That Can Wipe Out a Claim
Some states impose time limits that matter enormously when a relationship ends and one partner needs to establish the marriage existed.
In Texas, if you do not file a legal proceeding to establish the marriage within two years of separating, a court will presume you were never married. That presumption can be rebutted, but the burden shifts against you.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.401 – Proof of Informal Marriage Utah’s window is tighter still: a petition must be filed during the relationship or within one year after the couple separates or one partner dies.2State of Utah Judiciary. Judicial Recognition of a Relationship as a Marriage Miss those deadlines and the legal protections a marriage would have provided can disappear.
Proving the Marriage
When a common law marriage is disputed, the partner claiming it must produce evidence. No single document is required, but a strong paper trail makes a strong claim. The most persuasive kinds of evidence include:
- Joint federal tax returns, since the IRS requires a valid marriage to file jointly.7Internal Revenue Service. Filing Status
- Shared financial documents such as mortgages, leases, bank accounts, and insurance policies naming the other as a spouse.
- A Declaration of Informal Marriage, which Texas couples can sign with the county clerk as immediate proof of the union.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.401 – Proof of Informal Marriage
- Children’s birth certificates listing both partners as parents.
- Testimony from neighbors, coworkers, relatives, and friends who understood the couple to be married.
Names should appear exactly as they do on government-issued ID across every document. Small discrepancies give the other side openings to challenge the claim.
What Happens If You Move
A valid common law marriage does not evaporate at the state line. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires every state to respect the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.8Library of Congress. Article IV Section 1 – Constitution Annotated A common law marriage lawfully formed in Colorado stays valid if the couple later moves to New York, California, or anywhere else that does not permit new common law marriages.
The catch is proof. Courts in the new state apply the law of the state where the marriage was created, so the burden is on the couple to show they satisfied that original state’s standards. Building documentation while still living in the recognizing state makes this much easier later.
Rights of a Common Law Spouse
Once established, a common law marriage confers the same rights and duties as any other marriage. There is no lesser tier for couples who skipped the ceremony.
State Rights
A recognized common law spouse can make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner. Under intestacy laws, a surviving common law spouse inherits a share of the deceased partner’s estate even without a will and can claim an elective share where one is available. Both spouses may also become liable for debts incurred for household necessities or medical care during the marriage. These rights and obligations continue until a court formally dissolves the marriage.
Federal Taxes
The IRS treats a valid common law marriage identically to a ceremonial one for all federal tax purposes: joint filing, the unlimited marital deduction for gift and estate tax, and spousal treatment for retirement account beneficiaries. The IRS continues to recognize the marriage even if the couple later moves to a state that does not allow common law marriages, so long as the marriage was valid where formed.9Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2013-17
Social Security Survivor Benefits
A surviving common law spouse can apply for Social Security survivor benefits. The Social Security Administration evaluates whether the marriage was valid under the law of the state where the couple lived and asks for specific evidence: signed statements from the surviving spouse and, if the other spouse has died, statements from two blood relatives of the deceased. Other convincing proof is considered where preferred evidence is not available.10Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.726 – Evidence of Common-Law Marriage
FMLA Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act defines “spouse” to include a person in a common law marriage entered into in a recognizing state, so you can take FMLA leave to care for a common law spouse with a serious health condition.6Federal Register. Definition of Spouse Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
Immigration
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recognizes common law marriages for immigration benefits, including family-based visa petitions, as long as the marriage is valid in the jurisdiction where it was formed. USCIS looks for evidence such as affidavits, joint tax returns, shared utility bills, and mortgage documents.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 6 Part B Chapter 6 – Spouses
Military Dependent Benefits
A common law spouse can be enrolled in DEERS and receive a military dependent ID card. The service member must provide either a Staff Judge Advocate determination that the marriage is valid, a state-certified common law marriage certificate, or a court order establishing the marriage.12Department of Defense. DEERS Enrollment and ID Card Issuance Required Documents
Ending a Common Law Marriage
There is no “common law divorce.” Because a common law marriage carries the same legal weight as any other marriage, ending one requires filing for divorce through a family court. One spouse files a petition, the other is formally served, and the court supervises the division of property and debts and any custody and support issues. The marriage ends only when a judge signs a final divorce decree.
Simply moving out or ending the relationship does not dissolve the marriage. Until a court grants a divorce, both spouses keep every marital right and obligation, including potential liability for the other’s debts and the inability to legally marry someone else.
If You Do Not Qualify
Couples who live together in states that do not recognize common law marriage, or who fall short of the requirements in states that do, have far fewer legal protections. An unmarried cohabiting partner generally cannot inherit if the other partner dies without a will. There is no automatic right to divide property the way divorcing spouses can; each person typically keeps only the property in their own name, regardless of who paid for it or how long the relationship lasted. There is also no right to financial support after a breakup absent a written agreement.
For long-term couples who do not qualify, written cohabitation agreements, joint property titles, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents like wills and trusts are the reliable ways to protect each other. Assuming that a long relationship creates legal rights on its own is one of the most expensive mistakes unmarried couples make.