Legal Question in Family Law in California

It sounds like to me that you are not really legally married. Although the ceremony sounded beautiful, it's not a legal marriage unless you get the license and have it properly filled out and returned.

As to the other question, it depends on whether the putative spouse doctrine applies, and whether you two were just plain ignorant, or whether one putative spouse was mislead.

I disagree that the putative spouse doctrine would apply to your situation. By knowing that the two of you never took out a marriage license, you are prevented from claiming you had a good faith belief you were legally married.

It sounds like you MIGHT, however, actually have one of those rare cases where a "Marvin v. Marvin" claim might be asserted. That, however, is a very fact and detail intensive assessment that could only be done by consulting an attorney in person. If you do have a Marvin claim, you might be entitled to up to one year of spousal support, but that's about it, if any. The claims on assets would only be for income and assets acquired during the supposed marriage. Even if you were legally married it doesn't become "half of everything." Community property is only assets acquired during the marriage or with community income or other community assets.

No, you don't have to file for divorce in court since you were not married in the first place. You have the rights of room mates or business partners. You take what you bought and earned and he takes what he bought and earned. There is no spousal support, since you are not married. It is unlikely that you have a Marvin action after two years. You would have to -PROVE- that he agreed to support you in return for your giving up your previous life. That is a difficult and expensive thing to do, and the legal expense is not justified in the overwhelming majority of cohabitation cases, such as yours.