As of 2026, seven states and the District of Columbia still allow couples to form a new common law marriage: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, and D.C. Two more states, Utah and New Hampshire, recognize it only in narrow circumstances. Everywhere else, living together and calling each other spouses does not create a legal marriage, no matter how long it lasts.
A common law marriage, once validly formed, carries the same legal weight as a ceremonial one. That means the same tax rules, the same inheritance rights, and the same divorce requirements if the relationship ends.
Where You Can Still Form One Today
These are the jurisdictions where a couple can currently enter a common law marriage without a license or ceremony:
- Colorado. Both parties must be at least 18. Courts look at whether the couple mutually agreed to enter a marital relationship, evaluated as a whole rather than against a rigid checklist.
- Iowa. Requires intent and agreement to be married, continuous cohabitation, and public declarations that the parties are spouses.
- Kansas. Both parties must be at least 18. Courts look for a present marriage agreement, cohabitation, and public reputation as a married couple.1Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Statutes 23-2502 – Common-law Marriage
- Montana. No statute explicitly authorizes it, but Montana law does not invalidate marriages that lack a formal ceremony.
- Oklahoma. The marriage statutes require a license, but Oklahoma courts have consistently upheld common law marriages through case law.
- Rhode Island. No authorizing statute, but courts recognize common law marriage through longstanding case law.
- Texas. Called an “informal marriage.” A couple can either sign a Declaration of Informal Marriage with the county clerk or prove they agreed to be married, lived together in Texas, and represented to others that they were married. No one under 18 may be a party to an informal marriage.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.401 – Proof of Informal Marriage
- District of Columbia. Requires a mutual, express present agreement to be married, along with cohabitation.
Utah and New Hampshire: Narrow Recognition Only
Two states recognize something resembling common law marriage, but with restrictions that catch couples off guard.
Utah
Utah does not let a couple simply declare themselves married. A court or administrative body must issue an order validating the relationship. To qualify, the couple must be of legal age, legally free to marry, have lived together, mutually taken on the rights and duties of marriage, and developed a reputation in their community as spouses.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-2-408 – Validity of Marriage Not Solemnized or Solemnized Before an Unauthorized Individual
The deadline matters: you must file the petition while the relationship is ongoing or within one year after it ends. Miss that window and the court loses authority to recognize the marriage, which can cost a separating partner significant rights.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s version only kicks in at death. Under RSA 457:39, two people who live together, acknowledge each other as spouses, and have a general reputation as married for at least three years are deemed legally married only upon the death of one partner. Living couples cannot use this statute to claim married status while both are alive; it functions for inheritance and survivor benefits.4New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes 457-39 – Cohabitation, Etc.
What It Actually Takes
Living together alone never creates a common law marriage. Every state that allows these unions requires more. The specifics vary, but three core elements show up almost everywhere.
A Present Agreement to Be Married
Both partners must mutually agree that they are married right now. A plan to marry someday does not count. This is the element that separates a committed long-term relationship from a common law marriage. The agreement does not need to be written, but both people must share the same understanding at the same time.
Holding Out as Married
The couple must present themselves to the outside world as spouses. Courts look at concrete behavior: introducing each other as husband or wife, filing joint tax returns, sharing a last name, listing each other as spouses on insurance or financial documents, and being known in the community as married. A relationship kept private, where friends and family don’t consider the couple married, will struggle to meet this element.
Cohabitation
The couple must live together. No state sets a minimum number of months or years. A couple could theoretically satisfy all three requirements after a short period of living together, though courts are skeptical of brief cohabitation because it makes the other elements harder to prove.
Legal Capacity
Both parties must be of legal age (18 in most states that allow common law marriage), mentally competent, and not already married to someone else.
The Seven-Year Myth
The most persistent misconception is that common law marriage automatically kicks in after seven years of living together. No state has ever used a specific time requirement to create a common law marriage. The origin of the seven-year figure is unclear even to family law scholars, but the myth is remarkably durable. Couples who believe they are common law married based solely on how long they have lived together are almost certainly wrong, and couples who avoided formalizing their relationship because they assumed the law would do it for them may find themselves with no marital protections at all.
The second common misconception is that common law marriage exists everywhere. It doesn’t. If your state is not on the lists above, living together and calling each other spouses does not create a legal marriage.
If Your State Abolished It
Most states that once recognized common law marriage have ended the practice but still honor unions formed before the cutoff. If you entered a common law marriage in one of these states while it was still legal, that marriage remains valid:
- South Carolina: abolished July 24, 2019, by the state Supreme Court in Stone v. Thompson, applied purely prospectively.5Justia. Stone v Thompson – 2019 – South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions
- Alabama: abolished January 1, 2017.
- Pennsylvania: abolished January 1, 2005.
- Georgia: abolished January 1, 1997.
- Idaho: abolished January 1, 1996.
- Ohio: abolished October 10, 1991.
- Florida: abolished January 1, 1968.
- Indiana: abolished January 1, 1958.
Several other states abolished the practice even earlier. If a common law marriage was formed decades ago in a state not listed here, the question is whether that state recognized common law marriage at the time the relationship began.
Recognition If You Move
A common law marriage validly formed in a state that allows it is generally recognized as a legal marriage everywhere else in the country, through a combination of the Full Faith and Credit Clause and conflict-of-laws rules that honor marriages valid where created.6Cornell Law Institute. Common Law Marriage
If you established a common law marriage in Colorado and moved to California, California would still treat your Colorado marriage as valid. The catch is proof. Without a license or certificate, you may need joint tax returns, shared financial accounts, and affidavits from people who knew you as a married couple. Keep this paper trail from the start.
Why It Matters: Taxes, Benefits, and Divorce
Federal Taxes
The IRS follows state law when determining marital status. If your common law marriage is valid under your state’s rules, the IRS treats you as married for federal income tax purposes. You must file as either “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately.” Filing as single when you are in a recognized common law marriage is incorrect and can trigger penalties or lost deductions.7Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2013-17 This applies even if your state later abolished common law marriage, as long as yours was valid when formed, and it follows you to states that don’t permit common law marriage.
Social Security
The Social Security Administration recognizes common law marriages for spousal and survivor benefits, but you will need to prove the marriage was valid under state law.8Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.726 – Evidence of Common-Law Marriage A surviving partner who cannot prove the marriage may lose tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime survivor benefits.
Healthcare Decisions
A common law spouse has the same legal right to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner as any other spouse. Proving it in a hospital hallway during a crisis is the hard part. A durable power of attorney for healthcare and a living will eliminate the ambiguity and cost relatively little to prepare.
Ending the Marriage
There is no such thing as a common law divorce. Ending a common law marriage requires a court petition for dissolution, with the judge dividing property, addressing spousal support, and handling custody as in any other divorce. The couple is treated as married from the date the common law marriage was established, which means property acquired during the marriage is subject to division. Disputes about the start date are common and can dramatically affect what counts as marital property. Walking away without a formal divorce leaves both people legally married, meaning neither can remarry without committing bigamy.
Texas adds its own wrinkle. If you separate from your informal spouse and do not start a legal proceeding to prove the marriage within two years of the date you stopped living together, a rebuttable presumption arises that no marriage agreement ever existed.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.401 – Proof of Informal Marriage The presumption can be rebutted with evidence, but doing so is difficult and expensive. Treat the two-year clock as urgent.