Now that gay marriage is legal in the US, does the common-law kick in as well, where applicable?

Not necessarily. Some states have case law that specifies a husband-wife relationship, thus excluding same-gender couples.

Only nine states still contract common-law marriages. People don’t become married because they’ve cohabitated for X-number of years; that’s a common misunderstanding. A common-law marriage exists when a couple cohabitates and holds itself out to the public as married.

I have a niece who lives in Texas. She goes by his name and has kids with him. He said he didn’t want to get married because, “why ruin a good thing.” I sent her a copy of the Texas common law rules. They’ve been together long enough and present themselves as husband and wife so in Texas they ARE considered married. She liked that. Of course, if she wanted to register to vote in his name…...

I’m guessing at all of this, but what seems logical to me is common law marriage would apply for same sex if the couple meets the criteria.

I don’t think common law marriage is ever really equal to the real deal civil
marriage, because I don’t think other states have to honor any sort of reciprocity. So, even if you are common law married in Texas (to use @Judi‘s example) if the couple moves to a state without common law marriage I think the couple is SOL. I might be wrong.

I believe they just settled a court case here in Texas on that very subject (heard it on the radio this evening but don’t know much about it). Two ladies, one of whom subsequently died, they claimed common law marriage; judge agreed. I will see if I can find more in the morning.

Here is most of the information regarding Common Law Marriage, Including Same Sex Common Law Marriage.

IMO- This issue won’t experience much change other than grammatically. The huge change will be in issues involving divorce.

Divorce and death are two of the biggest reasons “marriage” matters from a financial perspective. Death not only for probate, but also death and dying medical decisions and visitation. Custody of children would be another big consideration.

I think if a couple is not actually married, then probate might give inheritance to a common law spouse, but my guess is if any federal taxes of the estate would apply, then the estate has to pay the tax, while if it has been a civil law spouse, the taxes would not be owed.

Regarding children, anyone who wants to remain a parent of step children, or similar circumstance, need to make sure wishes and legal work are done. I wouldn’t trust a judge on something so important.

I didnt even think about about it in those terms. Good points! From some of the c-l couples who fell under the common-law situation, the women did not fare as well. And that was between men and women. Which is sad. I agree about a good lawyer’s work rather than a judge’s decision, especially about kids. Estates also.

I wonder if the new laws automatically let a person be with their same-sex spouce, like in a hospital situation. They’ve been so awful for couples before the marriage law was passed. Does that automatically change things everywhere? Like classroom permission slips to banking. ?????

Given the wide variations in the treatment of “common law” marriages between jurisdictions as it stands, I’d say that adding another variable to the equation merely reaffirms my answer; it depends.

In some places, that already happens. In others it might never happen regardless of what the federal government says the laws are. Oddly enough, the one example I know of off the top of my head happened in Texas of all places.

Just did some look-fers; until institutions enter in their by-laws/handbooks to allow ‘whomevers’ rights, they can still deny. Regardless of laws. One point made was that the exact methods of updating said info in rules, and whom such changes needs to be approved by can vary by institution. (BOD’s or others)
My thought was how some institutions will not wish to spend the money nor gain notoriety for denying people’s rights- especially if receiving grant and foundation monies.

Can you link to the common-law states, @Love_my_doggie? (@Kardamom‘s link)

Nice of you, Uaunt @Judi. I wonder what ‘presenting yourself as husband and wife would amount to for same-sex couples.

Yes, you get to the heart of my question, @JLeslie. How many of those rights will transfer to gays?

Do let us know, @rojo.

Great information, @Kardamom.

I spent a year-and-a-half renovating my mother’s house in Rhode Island and preparing to sell it. One of the contractors often told me about his wife and their infant daughter. Yes, he used the word “wife”; his friends told me that he always referred to her that way. Then, at the end of rehab project, he admitted that he and she weren’t really married; she was just his girlfriend.

Well, guess what… Yes, he’s married. Rhode Island is one of the nine states that contracts common-law marriages. He and his partner cohabitate – they’d even had a child together – and they present themselves to the public and their community as a married couple.

Well, guess what else… There’s no such a thing as common-law divorce. If this guy hasn’t said “I do” because he doesn’t want to commit and might walk away, he already has and he can’t.