Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Dina Haddad and her team provide expert mediation services for Californians. If you want help related to any family law issue, call us or book a consult.
A common law marriage — by definition — is a form of marriage formed between romantic partners without obtaining marriage license or going through ceremony.
California does not accept new marriages formed in the state but it does recognize common law marriages (CML) with some exceptions; (1) couples validly formed in the state where it was legal; (2) couples validly formed CML in some other state prior to that state’s cutoff date.
Many states in the U.S. recognizes it while many others don’t. The states like Iowa and Colorado accept this union, which means if you contract such marriage in common law states and relocate to California, it could recognize it.
Do you’ve questions about common law marriage or getting a divorce in California, or maybe about domestic partnership or cohabitation in California? Let’s discuss with our top-rated mediation lawyers, Dina Haddad and Samira Amato. Book your free, confidential consultation today.
The blog discusses common-law marriage in detail from California’s recognition to exceptions and myths.
“A marriage without formalities of license, marriage certificate, or ceremony is known as common-law marriage according to the Legal Information Institute.
No, California does not recognize it if you contract it even in the state as the state does not have family law to recognize a union, i.e., the one that is just based on verbal consent and specific length of cohabitation.
California abolished the recognition of common law marriage in 1895 as codified in California Fam Code § 300. Since then it only recognizes CML validly established in source states or valid out of state CML. Meaning thereby, the marriage won’t be considered contracted just by demonstrating mutual consent, cohabitation, and holding themselves out as married without a formal license and solemnization (a ceremony).
If you contract common-law marriage in California, instead of exploring other alternatives that fit well for unmarried couples, it would be like denying your own rights that unmarried couples may seek through domestic partnership or cohabitation agreement.
Common-law marriage is not just cohabitation. Though cohabitating is one of the elements that constitute it. This is how it is distinguished from cohabitation.
In common law marriage, both couples intend to be married and live together as married couples unlike cohabitation in which couples live together as unmarried couples.
You are likely to see the following things in common-law marriage couples:
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Dimensions
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Common Law Marriage
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Domestic Partnership
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Cohabitation
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Recognition
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Can’t be recognized Except formed in source state.
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Yes, registered with secretary of state
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Recognized — simply living together
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Duration Requirement
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No
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No
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No
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Eligibility
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Not Valid in California
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Both potential partners need to 18+ and unmarried
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None
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Community Property
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Yes if recognized
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Yes
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Each owns what is titled to them
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Property Division
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For a recognized CML— YES
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Property division same as dissolution
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Only via Marvin Cohabitation Agreement enforced
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Spousal Support
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Yes if recognized
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Yes
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Palimony only is support agreement is proved
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California has updated its marriage laws in 2026 but it continues not to recognize common law marriage contracted in California.
This continuity of not recognizing applies to both; traditional and same sex couples. These changes span coerced and forced marriages, marriage equality protections, and joint petition for dissolution.
Another point that needs to be clarified here is that the ‘Donald Trump administration enacted the federal law to change the current status of common law marriage for California.’
However, family law and common law marriage is entirely the state jurisdiction and such rumors hold no weight. The following are the instances when California really recognizes common law marriage
California would recognize the marriage if the couples contracted it out of state (Colorado, Montana, etc.) and it was validly formed as per that state’s requirements such as cohabitation, capacity to marry, and publicly holding out as married, etc. These couples, at some point of time, decided to move to California, then the California state would recognize it as per Family code § 308.
Hence this form of marriage validly formed elsewhere would be considered legal in California and treated as marriage for purposes like divorce, property division, spousal support, inheritance, and certain benefits.
California also qualifies common law marriages as legal marriage when couples validly formed in some state prior to that state’s cutoff/abolishment dates.
Example: A couple validly formed CML marriage in Alabama before the state stopped it on Jan 1, 2017. The California would recognize the marriage as valid although Alabama does not actively allow forming new CML marriages since 2017.
But there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about recognition of common law marriage that also need to be clarified. Some of those are as under:
No matter how long you have lived together even if it is “7, 10 or 20” years you are not going to be accepted as a common law marriage. However, the exception to those discussed above applies here. Let alone California, no state is going to accept CML this way.
Sharing the last name of your spouse, wearing rings, or even filing joint taxes does not constitute common law marriage in California.
No. California does not accept the CMLs on the belief that couples just visited the state or stay there for some period of time where it was valid.
Marvin v. Marvin contract applies to cohabitating, unmarried couples and does not justify the marital status as legal/valid though it confers no automatic division of property and awarding spousal support.
The couples married honestly, the ceremony was performed too but their license was defective or their marriage has other technical defects on the basis of which the court finds it void or voidable. But since both couples have good faith that marriage was valid, this does not apply to common law marriage where couples simply start living together and are not actually married.
The following is the list of 9 states that fully recognize common-law marriage and are called common-law marriage states:
Note: Rhode Island has just changed their common law marriage in 2025 (Law H5258)effective after Jan 1, 2026. It does not recognize newly contracted common law marriages formed after Jan 1, 2026. However, the CML marriages ( validly) formed prior to the effective date of the law would be recognized.
Now we are going to discuss the states that used to recognize common law marriage once but now they have limited recognition to such marriages. The following is the list of 9 states with their date of recognition or abolition.
If you want to protect your rights and interests while still being legally unmarried in California (not by common law marriage), these might be the two best alternatives to consider in California:
Find Law defines domestic partnership in these words:
“Domestic Partnership is a legally recognized form of relationship between two adults who have chosen to share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring.”
In 1999, domestic partnership was limited to same-sex couples in California. But, in 2020, it has evolved to extend rights and protection for opposite-sex couples.
Hence, couples or partners who want to stay as unmarried partners can use this arrangement besides securing their rights and benefits, here in California. To establish it, fill out a domestic partnership form and submit a filing fee to the California Secretary of State’s office.
A cohabitation agreement is a contract that outlines certain rights and responsibilities between unmarried partners living or cohabitating together.
It can give both partners peace of mind by setting expectations regarding (financial, property, etc.) rights and responsibilities during and after cohabitation, thus, eliminating potential conflict.
Functioning like prenuptial agreements, it can set clear guidelines regarding property division, assets and handling debts in case of separation.
The legal rights of unmarried couples are different from those of married ones.
Before you choose a domestic partnership or cohabitation agreement, go through the following rights to make a well-informed decision.
California is a community property state, meaning that property and assets acquired during marriage will have joint ownership.
However, in case of unmarried partners community property will not be divided. Their property rights and benefits differ from those of legally married couples. Rather, you and your partner have to establish your property rights, such as joint ownership of a home or assets.
If unmarried partners have (a) child(ren) together, both parents will have equal rights and responsibilities for the child(ren).
However, for all the said things, unmarried couples have to establish legal paternity. By establishing paternity, a child can easily inherit assets and property in certain situations.
The unmarried partners can establish paternity or legal guardianship of their child(ren) by signing a voluntary declaration of parentage or through medical tests.
Financial matters are complex for unmarried partners because, in California, they are considered two separate individuals regarding their finances.
If one of the partners dies, the other may be denied access to the finances of that partner, such as:
The solution? You and your spouse must aim to own joint finances and financial accounts (savings, investments, etc.).
Since California does not recognize common law marriage (and ended in 1895), it would not matter how long you have been together. You can look for other alternatives to preserve your rights as an unmarried couple in California.
California stopped recognizing common law marriage 100 years back in 1895.
The “7-year rule” is a common misconception pertinent to California common law marriage. Since the state of California does not recognize common law marriage, spending 7 or more than seven years would make the marriage legally valid in the state.
