What about enforcement of laws relating to estates, trusts and wills, etc.?
“What about enforcement of laws relating to estates, trusts and wills, etc.?”
Is there any property involved (house, land, bank accounts, investment certificates and the like), and whose name(s) are listed as the owners? In many states, in court, sufficient evidence of life together is enough for a “common law” spouse to make a claim, even if they were not named as owners/holders of a property. And, common law or not, it requires no more effort to list Mark Jones and Mable Smith as owners as it does to list Mr and Mrs Mark Jones. One of my married nephews and his wife, even though they are legally married, has done exactly that - everything they hold in common is listed in both their birth names - property, bank accounts, investments, etc.