Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
common law marriage
My question is: If two people who have been dating and living together for 3yrs, does this applies to as common law marriage?And what rights does this couple have? Situation: A boy and a girl dated for 3yrs and during these 3yrs they have been living together. They had a fight. The girl had told the boy that if he wanted for them to break up, then he has to pay her $15,000 under the virginia law. Is this true?
2 Answers from Attorneys
No common law marriage in VA
Nonsense. Virginia does not have common law marriage, so unless she can establish that a common law marriage was established in one ofthe few jurisdictions that does recognize it, she's out of luck. And where it is recognizedit requires a lot more than living together.At a minimum, they have to hold themselves outto the world as being married.
Sounds Like a Good Scam
People who hold themselves out as husband and wife even though they have not had a marriage ceremony pursuant to a license issued by the state are said to have entered a "common law" marriage. Virginia does not recognize common law marriages formed in the Commonwealth. However, if the common law marriage is undertaken, Virginia will recognize it. The girl's demand for $15,000 sounds like a proposed property agreement to settle a marriage that never existed. If the guy is stupid enough to fall for it, I guess the girl thinks getting such a settlement would be better than getting up every morning to go to work for the next 8 months or so.
The foregoing is a general statement of the law and is not intended to be the provision of legal advice to a specific situation. Making this general statement is not intended to give rise to an attorney-client relationship.
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