Posted on 06/28/2015 7:02:15 AM PDT by HarleyLady27
Say somebody lived in a State that recognizes 'common law' marriages, and one of the partners of this couple (man and woman) was already married, and they lived together for say 15-17 years....would the man, having already being married to someone else, living with another woman, be committing polygamy????
Not anymore. Haven’t you heard? Anything goes!
I believe technically that would be bigamy.
Depends: is the ‘man’ a man from birth or a late-life changeover lesbian? And is the ‘woman’ a female farm animal? These questions will have to be asked now.
Not unless he married at least two more. Bigamy, now, got him on that one!
Disclaimer: Not a legal opinion.
From what I have studied in the past, many years ago, it would become a problem only if the person that was not divorced from a previous marriage, attempted to gain benefits (such as Social Security or a Survivors Pension) as a result of the common-law marriage, which may or may not be recognized by the state.
A good confusing legal conundrum, one that has been used by Professors that teach law in nearly every class in the US.
I am not a legal expert by any stretch of anyone's imagination, but I have studied such at length, simply for my own edification.
Google "Common Law Marriage" and you will find a plethora of information, most of it very conflicting, about the subject.
There have been a couple of Supreme Court decisions and many, many lower court rulings on it.
Basically though, the "crime" of polygamy has pretty much gone the way of laws against adultery.
There are many on the books, but few are actually prosecuted in this day and age.
Don’t you have to declare your shacking up as a “common law” marriage? I think you only need to co-habit for 6 months (don’t know if a consummation of the relationship is needed) and make a declaration.
A divorce lawyer would have a better answer (because if only the cohabitation requirement of a few months is needed, I think you’d see more ex’s demanding a share their former partner’s stuff).
Whoa!!! Are you talking about my aunt? LOL
My Aunt divorce her first husband to shack up with another man who is still legally married for almost 40 years. He has never divorced his wife and my aunt had 7 kids with this man.
I never viewed him as my uncle and never will. My aunt passed away and he is still alive.
I always wonder about that. Is it lawful? How can my aunt be consider living in a common law marriage if the man she is with is still married to his wife.
I thought that polygamy prosecution still occurs against mormons and that bigamy cases are still brought against men who’ve married several women (and the ladies don’t know about the situation) leading the subsequent wives to be defrauded by the belief that they are the sole (surviving) spouse or primary claim to the property should a divorce arise.
By the way, Barack Obama’s father was a polygamist/bigamist. His marriage to Stanley was a sham. Barry is a bastard child.
The SCOTUS has put us all through the looking glass. LOL. “Words mean what I say they mean.”. As Ravi Zacarias says,”You step in front of a bus you will soon discover that there is, indeed, one truth.”. When the libtards step in front of the bus I, for one, plan to be ON it, if not driving.
Consider this. The Klown’s daddy of record may have been just a chump rolled in for the service. Read his poem about his “pops” and realize he is talking about FM Davis.
That depends on the size and color of the Doublewide and whether the hookups are on his own lot or rented.
Either someone is common Law married, or they are not, just like any marriage.
If someone is legally married with CL, then it counts as a regular marriage and all the rest of marriage law and divorce, apply.
Just living together as a man and woman (shacking up) does not make you married.
Common Law marriage is a legal marriage, shacking up is just two people living together.
That was the exact questioned I was asked....and my answer was I don’t know the legal answer, but if one of the partners of these ‘two’ didn’t get divorced, then that should tell you that the other really didn’t care about you all that much....
http://marriage.laws.com/common-law-marriage-utah
I believe in Utah, share a Coke & a smoke and you’re hitched.
No. Under present law a currently married person is ineligible to marry another by any process not preceded by divorce. Living with someone ineligible for marriage, such as a minor will not result in a common law union irrespective of how long the cohabitation lasts. In the example given, once the minor achieves majority, the clock might start ticking.
Speaking as a Justice of the Peace here.
Thank you, I just passed that along to my friend...
Nothing matters as long as they/its LOVE each other....
In Texas, common law marriage is treated in all respects the same as a ceremonial marriage. This dates way back to the 1800s when you couldn’t always wait for a traveling preacher to come to town (particularly if you wanted to avoid bastard children). If you want to end a common law marriage, then you have to get a regular divorce. If you don’t, then you can be guilty of bigamy if you move on to common law spouse #2 before legally divorcing common law spouse #1. (There is now a statute of limitations on proving a common law marriage that is commonly referred to as a “common law divorce,” but it is complicated).
To have a common law marriage in Texas, there are only three requirements: (1) you intend to be married, (2) you cohabitate, and (3) you hold yourselves out as married to other people. The “intend to be married” requirement is the one that is nearly always in dispute when one party claims they were married and the other does not. Intent can be inferred from meeting the other two requirements. So you can become legally married by checking into a motel for the night as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
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