namelesstavern.net

leah wrote:why is he asking about a prenup (or altering one, even) if y'all aren't married and don't seem to be planning to get married (since you've said many, many times now that you "haven't ever even been close to getting married"). i guess i don't understand why this is an issue at all if A) you aren't married (meaning there is no existing prenup) and B) you aren't planning on getting married. why is he even asking about it if you're not getting married?

In fifteen states and the District of Columbia (see below), though, common law marriages are recognized. If a man and a woman (same-sex marriages aren't recognized) live together and "intend to be married" by acting like they are married, telling people they are married, and doing the things married people do (using words like "husband" and "wife," filing joint tax returns, etc.), they become common law spouses. This gives them the same rights and responsibilities as people who got married the old-fashioned way, with a trip to City Hall and a wedding.

Common law marriage isn't something to do lightly. If you become married by common law and later decide you want to end your relationship, you still have to have a standard, legal divorce. In this way, common law marriages are very similar to regular marriages: they're usually easier to get into than to get out of.

There's no simple test to see if a couple qualifies as being common law married, and the only time the question usually arises is in court. If, after death or separation, one partner claims there was a common law marriage and wants the benefits of marriage, the court would consider many factors to determine if there was truly intent to be married. Since the seven-years-to-automatic-marriage idea is only a myth, determining whether a common law marriage existed can be complicated. Some lawyers recommend that couples write, sign, and date a simple statement that says they do or do not intend to be married, to offer protection should the question ever arise.

If you create a common law marriage in one of the states below and later move to a state that does not recognize common law marriage, your marriage can technically still exist. All marriages, common law or otherwise, are recognized by all states, regardless of where they were created (the debate about legalizing same-sex marriage gets tricky here, since technically, a lesbian marriage created in whatever state legalizes it first should be recognized by all other states).

Gargamellow wrote:I just wish I could shake this feeling that I have missed out in some way by not getting married.

Tikker wrote:

Gargamellow wrote:I just wish I could shake this feeling that I have missed out in some way by not getting married.

being married isn't any different than living together

kaharthemad wrote:

Tikker wrote:

Gargamellow wrote:I just wish I could shake this feeling that I have missed out in some way by not getting married.

being married isn't any different than living together

not true since Im married to Mar insurance was picked up, now I can kill her and collect the 3 million dollar insurance check

leah wrote:aaaaand i'm still answerless :\ that's maddening.

as for myself, assuming i stay with josh, i doubt i'll ever get married.

araby wrote:if you think it's not the real thing or think you guys don't have trust then that's one thing but you wouldn't ruin love by protecting yourself and your children in the event something happened. I look at is as one of the "better to have and not need" kind of things. I've heard lots of sob stories where protection would have been better for the person with a prenup. they aren't just for the rich.

holding what I would rather have and not need, then need and not have it...