5 ms·

In many jurisdictions, common law relationships after a certain period of cohabitation are very similar to marriage when it comes to splitting up. I'm guessing

In many jurisdictions, common law relationships after a certain period of cohabitation are very similar to marriage when it comes to splitting up. I'm guessing you're not advocating not staying with someone for more than, say 2 years.

scotty79 5y ago
It might be worth swapping jurisdictions. Some places seem just bad for having any prolonged relationship.
- DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
  or depending on your gender swap jurisdiction when you see it's going pear shaped. France sees quite a bit of divorce tourism from UK and other European countries because they're "less progressive". So if you have a lot of money to lose move the whole family to France and after 2 or 3 years get divorced there.
suifbwish 5y ago
So you can’t be a room mate with the opposite sex without being considered common law married after that time period? I feel like any decent lawyer could blow that to pieces.
- kristjansson 5y ago
  Usually part of the definition is holding yourself out to not married
- diordiderot 5y ago
  same sex a applies as well in CA!
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    CA doesn't have common law marriage, so it is more accurate to say that it doesn't apply to same sex couples in the same way that it doesn't to oppozit5-sex couples.
    - diordiderot 5y ago
      My mistake, I heard that once before as a child and just parroted it. Very stupid of me
    - unstatusthequo 5y ago
      Correct, but CA recognizes common law marriage where it was triggered in other jurisdictions.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > Correct, but CA recognizes common law marriage where it was triggered in other jurisdictions. Every US state recognizes common law marriage from other jurisdictions, and (because of federal Cobstitutional rulings) does so without regard to the gender of participants.
- tsimionescu 5y ago
  Maybe not, but I bet it's hard to claim the person you have a 10 year old child with is your room mate.
- unstatusthequo 5y ago
  No, see kuang_eleven and my comment to him above. Many factors are weighed.
ur-whale 5y ago
> common law relationships after a certain period of cohabitation are very similar to marriage These laws are awful and need to be changed.
_odey 5y ago
Common Law Marriage doesn't seem to be a thing in the UK since 1753. Is this just a US thing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_Marriages_Act_1753 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_Marriages_Act_1753 https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences/ https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-mar... https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/relationship-advice/common-law-marriage/ https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/relationsh... Edit: also a related term, parental responsibility... https://www.bma.org.uk/media/1840/bma-parental-responsibility-oct-2008.pdf https://www.bma.org.uk/media/1840/bma-parental-responsibilit... Edit2: also you can assign each other as "Next of Kin". https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/advice-and-support/next-of-kin/ https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/advice-and-su... Edit3: also note, married couples don't automatically have "Lasting power of attorney" which grants partners a say in their medical care, and being "Next of Kin" is not an equivalent. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/legal-issues/power-of-attorney/ https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/lega... So... don't get married, sign your name on the birth certificate, and fill in that NHS card
- 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
  Isn’t it the same as a defector relationship? Australia also has a system where you don’t have to be married to be considered as a couple for some legal purposes.
  - _odey 5y ago
    You mean "de facto relationship"? From what I understand, no, it's the exact opposite. https://www.gotocourt.com.au/family-law/de-facto-relationships/ https://www.gotocourt.com.au/family-law/de-facto-relationshi... "The courts can make an order for the division of any property that you own together or separately. They may also order a split of any superannuation, or that one party pay spousal maintenance. The net asset pool will include anything acquired before, during, or after separation. It does not matter whether the property was owned jointly or individually. When determining a property settlement, the court evaluates the types of contributions – financial and non-financial – made by either person, as well as their future needs." Edit: this applies to AU "de facto relationship" vs UK "common law marriage" terms... it might be different when discussing different countries.
kuang_eleven 5y ago
In the very few places where common law marriage is allowed, it still requires the couple to hold themselves out in public as married. It does not "trick" people into getting married if they don't treat themselves as married. There can be complications if one party claims to be common-law married and the other does not, especially during divorces.
- theluketaylor 5y ago
  That’s not always the case. Here in Ontario there was a case of a relationship being declared common law by a court despite not cohabitating. That is quite unusual, but simply living together for 3 years (or 1 year with a child) is the normal yardstick courts use. https://globalnews.ca/news/7327501/couple-no-home-no-kids-spouses-ontario-court/ https://globalnews.ca/news/7327501/couple-no-home-no-kids-sp...
- unstatusthequo 5y ago
  Those factors can be, amongst others: joint financial accounts, mortgage, title to assets, children, vehicle insurance policies, reciprocal wills, reciprocal beneficiaries of life insurance, health coverage, intimacy, etc. What I’m getting at is that it’s not that hard to hold yourself out as married when you’ve got so much “entanglement.”
g8oz 5y ago
Yes in the provice of Ontario common-law spouses have the same rights to spousal support as married couples if they have been living together for at least three years, or if they have a child together and have been living together in a relationship of some permanence.

scotty79 5y ago

It might be worth swapping jurisdictions. Some places seem just bad for having any prolonged relationship.

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
or depending on your gender swap jurisdiction when you see it's going pear shaped. France sees quite a bit of divorce tourism from UK and other European countries because they're "less progressive". So if you have a lot of money to lose move the whole family to France and after 2 or 3 years get divorced there.

suifbwish 5y ago

So you can’t be a room mate with the opposite sex without being considered common law married after that time period? I feel like any decent lawyer could blow that to pieces.

kristjansson 5y ago
Usually part of the definition is holding yourself out to not married
diordiderot 5y ago
same sex a applies as well in CA!
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  CA doesn't have common law marriage, so it is more accurate to say that it doesn't apply to same sex couples in the same way that it doesn't to oppozit5-sex couples.
  - diordiderot 5y ago
    My mistake, I heard that once before as a child and just parroted it. Very stupid of me
  - unstatusthequo 5y ago
    Correct, but CA recognizes common law marriage where it was triggered in other jurisdictions.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > Correct, but CA recognizes common law marriage where it was triggered in other jurisdictions. Every US state recognizes common law marriage from other jurisdictions, and (because of federal Cobstitutional rulings) does so without regard to the gender of participants.
tsimionescu 5y ago
Maybe not, but I bet it's hard to claim the person you have a 10 year old child with is your room mate.
unstatusthequo 5y ago
No, see kuang_eleven and my comment to him above. Many factors are weighed.

ur-whale 5y ago

> common law relationships after a certain period of cohabitation are very similar to marriage These laws are awful and need to be changed.

_odey 5y ago

Common Law Marriage doesn't seem to be a thing in the UK since 1753. Is this just a US thing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_Marriages_Act_1753 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_Marriages_Act_1753 https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences/ https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-mar... https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/relationship-advice/common-law-marriage/ https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/relationsh... Edit: also a related term, parental responsibility... https://www.bma.org.uk/media/1840/bma-parental-responsibility-oct-2008.pdf https://www.bma.org.uk/media/1840/bma-parental-responsibilit... Edit2: also you can assign each other as "Next of Kin". https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/advice-and-support/next-of-kin/ https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/advice-and-su... Edit3: also note, married couples don't automatically have "Lasting power of attorney" which grants partners a say in their medical care, and being "Next of Kin" is not an equivalent. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/legal-issues/power-of-attorney/ https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/lega... So... don't get married, sign your name on the birth certificate, and fill in that NHS card

2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
Isn’t it the same as a defector relationship? Australia also has a system where you don’t have to be married to be considered as a couple for some legal purposes.
- _odey 5y ago
  You mean "de facto relationship"? From what I understand, no, it's the exact opposite. https://www.gotocourt.com.au/family-law/de-facto-relationships/ https://www.gotocourt.com.au/family-law/de-facto-relationshi... "The courts can make an order for the division of any property that you own together or separately. They may also order a split of any superannuation, or that one party pay spousal maintenance. The net asset pool will include anything acquired before, during, or after separation. It does not matter whether the property was owned jointly or individually. When determining a property settlement, the court evaluates the types of contributions – financial and non-financial – made by either person, as well as their future needs." Edit: this applies to AU "de facto relationship" vs UK "common law marriage" terms... it might be different when discussing different countries.

kuang_eleven 5y ago

In the very few places where common law marriage is allowed, it still requires the couple to hold themselves out in public as married. It does not "trick" people into getting married if they don't treat themselves as married. There can be complications if one party claims to be common-law married and the other does not, especially during divorces.

theluketaylor 5y ago
That’s not always the case. Here in Ontario there was a case of a relationship being declared common law by a court despite not cohabitating. That is quite unusual, but simply living together for 3 years (or 1 year with a child) is the normal yardstick courts use. https://globalnews.ca/news/7327501/couple-no-home-no-kids-spouses-ontario-court/ https://globalnews.ca/news/7327501/couple-no-home-no-kids-sp...
unstatusthequo 5y ago
Those factors can be, amongst others: joint financial accounts, mortgage, title to assets, children, vehicle insurance policies, reciprocal wills, reciprocal beneficiaries of life insurance, health coverage, intimacy, etc. What I’m getting at is that it’s not that hard to hold yourself out as married when you’ve got so much “entanglement.”

g8oz 5y ago

Yes in the provice of Ontario common-law spouses have the same rights to spousal support as married couples if they have been living together for at least three years, or if they have a child together and have been living together in a relationship of some permanence.