Legal Question in Family Law in District of Columbia

Re: how many years is recognized as common law marriage in D.C.

Hello, my name is Tiziana Ventimiglia and I am a practicing attorney in D.C. The answer to your question is as follows: a common law marriage is one that exists between two people (a man and a woman) who act as if they were married: i.e. they live in the same household, they share accounts, bills, bed and so forth. the key requirement is that each person must be "free to marry": this means for example that if one of the two is already married awaiting for a divorce, or simply being separated from his/her spouse, then that person is not free to marry because he/she is already married in the eyes of the law to somebody else. there is no specific time that is recognized by the Courts as a minimum time: it has to be long enough that people would recognize the relationship as being a steady one: months would not qualify as common law marriage, years would. I hope that this will answer your question. If you are in need of an attorney to counsel you with reasonable rates, you can reach me at 202/271-5983 or 202/857-1467.