There were still other details entered as evidence, according to the ruling: A greeting card from Kevin's mother to Angela referred to her as a daughter-in-law. Asquith heard testimony from witnesses who said the couple took vacations together, who considered them to be a married couple and who said they shared a bedroom at home. According to Judge Patricia Asquith's decision, some legal and medical documents named Angela as Kevin's spouse and beneficiary on others, they listed themselves as single. Since marriage is more than just sharing a home and life together, the judge examined everything from how legal and medical documents were filled out to seemingly mundane details of the couple's life. "I didn't have that legal document," she says.Īngela, citing irreconcilable differences, sought half of their shared house and its contents as well as half of both Kevin's retirement accounts and the value of his life insurance policy. "I have a sister who's been married and together with her husband just as long as I and Kevin were, and we live lives just like they did."īut Angela had to prove that in court because there was no marriage certificate to point to. "We vacationed together, we had family portraits, family parties, interacted with my family, his family," Angela told NPR. Kevin testified that they did not have a marital commitment. (We're not using their last names because this story is about their case and not the couple.) According to the judge's decision, "Angela saw Kevin kissing another woman, which in turn prompted Angela to throw Kevin out of the house." Angela argued the couple had agreed to be married back in 1995 and present themselves as husband and wife to family and friends. That's how it played out before a judge in Rhode Island in a case decided in the spring.Īngela and Kevin had been together for 23 years. "Usually it's the economically disadvantaged partner who wants to argue that, 'Yes, we were married,' and the partner says no," says Michele Zavos, a family lawyer, who practices in Washington, D.C., where common-law marriages are recognized. If a couple in a common-law marriage moves to a new state, the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution requires their common-law marriage be recognized even if that state doesn't ordinarily allow them. They are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Idaho, Georgia, Florida - and starting next year, Alabama. Other states that had at one time had common-law marriage statutes recognize them if entered into before the date they were abolished. Here are the places that recognize common-law marriage: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire (for inheritance purposes only), Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and the District of Columbia.
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