Am I Common-Law Married? How to Know If You Have a Common-Law Marriage

Short answer: you are probably not common-law married unless you live in (or formed your relationship in) one of the small number of states that still allow it, AND you and your partner actually agreed you were married, lived together, and told other people you were spouses. Simply dating for years, sharing a home, having children together, or having a joint bank account does not create a common-law marriage. There is no magic number of years that makes you married — the “seven-year rule” is a myth.

Common-law marriage is mostly a matter of state law, and only a handful of states recognize it at all. Below is how to figure out whether you have one, state by state, plus what it means for your rights if you do.

What actually makes a common-law marriage

In the states that recognize it, a common-law marriage is a real, legal marriage — just one created without a license or ceremony. The exact wording varies by state, but courts generally look for all of these at the same time:

• Legal capacity to marry. Both of you must be old enough, of sound mind, and not already married to someone else. If either partner had an undissolved prior marriage when the relationship began, no valid common-law marriage forms.
• A present agreement to be married. This is the core element. You both must have intended to be married now — not “someday” or “engaged.” A plan to marry in the future is the opposite of a common-law marriage.
• Living together as a couple in the recognizing state.
• Holding yourselves out as married. You presented yourselves to others as spouses — for example, calling each other husband, wife, or spouse; using the same last name; filing joint tax returns; listing each other as “spouse” on insurance, leases, or benefit forms; or introducing each other as married.

If any one of these is missing, most courts will not find a common-law marriage. And notice what is not on the list: there is no minimum number of years of cohabitation required anywhere in the U.S. Living together for decades does not marry you; living together for one month with genuine mutual agreement and public holding-out potentially could.

Which states recognize common-law marriage

As of 2026, only these jurisdictions allow a new common-law marriage to be formed:

• Colorado
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Montana
• Oklahoma (recognized, though its status has been the subject of legal debate)
• Texas (called an “informal marriage”)
• Utah (requires a court or administrative order recognizing the marriage)
• District of Columbia
• New Hampshire — a limited form, recognized only after one partner dies and mainly for inheritance purposes

Time-sensitive update: Rhode Island, which long recognized common-law marriage through its courts, passed a law abolishing new common-law marriages effective January 1, 2026. Marriages that were already established or adjudicated before that date are preserved. If your Rhode Island relationship straddles that date, talk to a lawyer about which rule applies to you.

“Grandfathered” marriages in states that abolished it

Several states used to allow common-law marriage and later abolished it, but they still honor marriages that became valid before the cutoff date. Examples include Alabama (new ones ended in 2017), Georgia (1997), Ohio (1991), Pennsylvania (2005), Indiana, Florida, and South Carolina (2019). So if you and your partner met all the requirements in one of those states before it changed the law, you may still be legally married today even though no new common-law marriages can form there now.

If you formed one, you stay married even after you move

This surprises people. A common-law marriage that was validly created in a recognizing state is generally treated as a valid marriage in other states too, even ones that do not allow common-law marriages to be formed. This follows from the long-standing rule that a marriage valid where it was entered into is valid elsewhere. So a couple who became common-law married in Texas and then moved to California (which does not allow new common-law marriages) is generally still married in California.

Federal law reinforces this for federal purposes. Under the Respect for Marriage Act of 2022, “for the purposes of any Federal law… an individual shall be considered married if that individual’s marriage… is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into” (1 U.S.C. § 7). That means a validly formed common-law marriage counts for federal benefits like Social Security and federal taxes, as long as it was valid where it was created.

Same-sex couples

Same-sex couples can form common-law marriages on the same terms as anyone else in the states that recognize them. The Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), held that states must license and recognize same-sex marriages, and the Respect for Marriage Act provides a federal statutory backstop requiring recognition of any marriage valid where entered into. Some courts have also recognized same-sex common-law marriages dating to before 2015, reasoning that the couple could not be denied a status they would have had but for an unconstitutional ban — but this is fact-specific, so get advice if it applies to you.

State spotlights

Am I common-law married in Colorado?

Colorado recognizes common-law marriage, and its courts have modernized the test in recent years. The central question is whether the two of you mutually intended to be married and acted in a way that shows that agreement. Cohabitation and holding yourselves out as married are strong evidence, but courts now weigh the totality of the circumstances rather than a rigid checklist — recognizing that modern couples may keep finances separate or not share a last name. If you both genuinely agreed you were married and lived that way, you may well be married under Colorado law.

Am I common-law married in Texas?

Texas calls it an “informal marriage.” It requires three things existing together: (1) you both agreed to be married, (2) you lived together in Texas as spouses, and (3) you represented to others that you were married. You can also create one on the spot by signing a Declaration of Informal Marriage at the county clerk’s office.

Watch the two-year deadline. In Texas, if no legal proceeding to prove the informal marriage is started within two years after the couple separates, the law presumes there was never an agreement to be married. That presumption can be rebutted, but it is hard to overcome years later. The two-year clock runs from the date you separated — not from when the marriage formed — so if you need to assert an informal marriage (for divorce, property, or inheritance), do not wait.

There is no “common-law divorce”

This is the trap that catches people. Getting into a common-law marriage is informal; getting out is not. If you have a valid common-law marriage, you are just as married as anyone with a license, and the only way to end it is a formal divorce through the court. You cannot dissolve it by separating, moving away, or simply declaring it over. People sometimes discover they are still legally married years later when they try to marry someone else or when a former partner claims a share of property or a death benefit.

Why it matters

Whether you are common-law married affects real rights and obligations: division of property and debt at divorce, spousal support, inheritance and the right to act as a surviving spouse, Social Security survivor and spousal benefits, health insurance and employee benefits, medical decision-making, and more. Couples who are not married — in the great majority of states that do not recognize common-law marriage — generally do not get these protections automatically, no matter how long they have been together.

What you can do

1. Check the state where your relationship took place. If it is not on the recognizing list above (or you cannot meet a grandfathered state’s pre-cutoff rule), you almost certainly do not have a common-law marriage to worry about.
2. Honestly assess the elements. Did you both intend to be married now? Did you live together? Did you tell the world you were spouses? All at the same time? Missing any element usually means no marriage.
3. Gather evidence either way. Joint tax returns, leases or deeds listing you as spouses, insurance and beneficiary forms, affidavits from friends and family, and anything using “husband/wife/spouse” all help prove (or disprove) a common-law marriage.
4. Mind the deadlines. In Texas, file within two years of separation to preserve an informal-marriage claim. If you are in Rhode Island, note the January 1, 2026 change.
5. If you want certainty, formalize or clarify. Couples who want to be married can get a license and ceremony; those who do not want to be married should avoid holding themselves out as spouses. A cohabitation agreement can spell out property rights without creating a marriage.
6. Talk to a family-law attorney in your state before you make decisions about property, benefits, or a new marriage — especially if money or inheritance is at stake. Many offer low-cost consultations, and the answer is genuinely state-specific.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice; consult a licensed family-law attorney in your state about your specific situation.