Did you assume common law marriage existed in every state? I did. I feel like it was one of those bits of information that floated around as simply a given that if you lived with someone for seven ...

Common Law Marriage is an arrangement where non-married persons are treated as married persons under the law. The arrangement has been abolished in the vast majority of U.S. states; currently ...

Does Social Security recognize common law or do you have to be legally married? My potential life partner is currently on disability collecting Social Security in a neighboring state. If the ...

Many people take for granted that their government will acknowledge their relationships of love and care. Yet some relationships are arbitrarily denied that recognition. The results may be ...

A declaration form for a spousal deduction is seen in Osaka's Kita Ward in this Jan. 16, 2019, file photo. If a person is in common-law marriage, they are ineligible for the deduction. (Mainichi ...

Verifying a Common Law Marriage To recognize a common law marriage, the SSA first requires that the couple does have a valid common law marriage according to their state’s laws.