common-law marriage
2
4.3
- noun
- /ˈkɑːmən lɔː ˈmɛrɪdʒ/
- Specialized
:
matrimonio de hecho
- In some states, a couple can enter into a common-law marriage after living together for a certain period.
- live in a common-law marriage
Examples
-
We entered into a "common law marriage" by moving in with each other.
Blog text (11) -
Fact: Not all states recognize "common law" marriages, and the states that do might have additional requirements.
Blog text (20) -
A common-law marriage provides all of the benefits of a lawful marriage while being as stable as a formal one.
Academic text (2002) -
Laura wrote: "I believe, however, as Mr. Powell mentioned, one can still be subject to the jurisdiction of family courts in states that recognize common law marriage."
Blog text (23) -
The amount of time that a couple has cohabitated is not the sole determinant of whether the couple has entered into a common law marriage.
Blog text (20) -
Birdie lived in a common-law marriage with a shrimper named Dezell.
Fiction book (1999) -
Of course, in medieval times they would have been married, having agreed to do so and consummated the union... come to think of it, a lot of those couples would have had common-law marriages in the US.
Blog text (27) -
Fifty-six percent of the participants were married, 32.0% had never been married, 4.0% were separated or divorced, and 8.0% were in a common-law marriage or living together.
Academic text (2002) -
Maurin was an ex-seminarian who never married, while Day was a single mother who had abandoned her common-law marriage at the time of her conversion to Catholicism.
Academic text (2007) -
ELLE (CONT'D) Under state law, you and Ms. Bonafante had a common law marriage, which entitles her to the benefits of property law and an equitable division of assets.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
The legal joining of two people as life partners
18
3.9
A legal partnership between two people, often same-sex, that gives many marriage rights
17
4.1
The state of being married to another person
A legal relationship between two people who are married
How Legal
∞
1.0
- Specialized
2
4.3
878
1.1
- Archaic
24
9.1
- NSFW
151
7.2
272
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'common-law' and 'marriage' indicate a type of marriage and thus give a partial clue, but the specific legal sense — that the union is recognized because of agreement and cohabitation rather than a formal ceremony or license — is a jurisdictional legal concept not directly inferable from the words alone. A B1 learner who knows the constituents may guess it is a legal/alternative form of marriage but would probably not recover the cohabitation/recognition nuance without prior exposure; equivalents exist in other languages but the precise meaning and conditions vary.
Etymology
Common-law marriage comes from the idea that when a couple lived together openly and acted like husband and wife, their everyday or common life led the law to treat them as a marriage even without a wedding. So, it means a relationship the law recognizes 'without a formal ceremony'.