What is Common Law Marriage?

Florida Attorney Sergio Cabanas answers the question: Is common law marriage considered a legal marriage under Florida law?
00:00 Introduction
00:06 What is Common Law Marriage?
02:46 Outro
Para la version en español, ver aquí:
¿Qué es el Matrimonio por Derecho Consuetudinario?
• ¿Qué es el matrimonio ...
**Please note that the information in this video is not an adequate substitute for a consultation with an attorney who is knowledgeable in this subject area and could review the specifics of your individual matter and determine how the law would apply in your particular case.**
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Sergio Cabanas, Esq. has been practicing law since 1991, after graduating from Washington College of Law in Washington D.C. Attorney Cabanas is admitted to practice in the State of Florida and the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Florida and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. He founded the Divorce and Mediation Law Firm in 2006.
The Divorce and Mediation Law Firm focuses on Divorce, Mediation, Child Custody, Child Support, Alimony, Prenuptial Agreements, Post-nuptial Agreements, Domestic Violence, and Post-Divorce Related issues.
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Transcript:
Hello and welcome to 60 Seconds with Sergio. I am your host, Sergio Cabanas, Attorney-at-Law here in Florida. Thank you for joining me today.
Today's question is actually very interesting.
And that is: "Hey, Sergio, my partner and I have been living together for many months we have a house together, we have joint bank accounts, we've held each other out as husband and wife whenever we go out in public, we're each other's emergency contact in case there is any medical emergency."
"Everybody just kind of knows us of having been married."
"We even have children together."
"So, given these circumstances, don't we have a legal marriage under Florida law?"
"And therefore, if we were to separate or terminate the relationship, we would need a divorce, right?
Well, this concept, under Florida law, is known as common law marriage.
We used to look at this and deem it to be a legal marriage because everything seemed to line up, right? For there to be a recognized marriage.
If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's got to be a duck.
If they act as if they were married, as husband and wife, then there must be a marriage.
No.
That's not the case under Florida law as of January 1st, 1968.
That's when Florida law basically abolished this concept
because, I believe it got too complicated.
People would date, maybe even live with one another for a short period of time, and then, when there was a termination of that relationship, suddenly one of the partners was suing the other for a divorce, trying to get the other's properties.
They abolished all of that because it got too complicated.
Where do you draw the line?
So, in order to have a legal marriage under Florida law, you have to have had a marriage license, and gone through some kind of a ceremony in order for it to be recognized as a legal marriage.
So, if you've been living together, dating for a long period of time, many months, even 10 years, have children together,
still, without having there been that ceremony and marriage license, you will not be considered to