How does California treat Common Law Marriage?

Answer

The state of California does NOT recognize Common Law Marriages.
Actually California does NOT recognize common law marriage. IT DOESNT MATTERI IF You have
beEN living with a partner of the opposite sex for 5 years OR 1000 YEARS.
IF YOU ARE A "REGISTERED DOMESTIC PARTNER" YOU HAVE SOME RIGHTS BUT YOU SHOULD TALK TO A FAMILY LAW LAWYER OR YOUR LOCAL LEGAL AID FOUNDATION. LOOK UP LAWS IN YOUR STATE AND COUNTY FOR MORE SPECIFIC CITATIONS.



In a handful of states, heterosexual couples can become legally married without a license or ceremony. This type of marriage is called a common law marriage. Contrary to popular belief, a common law marriage is not created when two people simply live together for a certain number of years. In order to have a valid common law marriage, the couple must do all of the following:

• live together for a significant period of time (not defined in any state)
• hold themselves out as a married couple -- typically this means using the same last name, referring to the other as "my husband" or "my wife," and filing a joint tax return, and
• intend to be married.

When a common law marriage exists, the spouses receive the same legal treatment given to formally married couples, including the requirement that they go through a legal divorce to end the marriage.
Common law marriage is recognized only in the following states:
Alabama
Colorado
District of Columbia
Georgia (if created before 1/1/97)
Idaho (if created before 1/1/96)
Iowa
Kansas
Montana
New Hampshire (for inheritance purposes only)
Ohio (if created before 10/10/91)
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Texas
Utah