Legal Question in Family Law in Alabama

No. Alabama law has no documentary requirements for recognizing a common law marriage. Nor does our State recognize a prescribed period of time for a co-habitation to be considered a common law marriage. Our legal standard for recognizing a common law marriage is a simple question of whether the couple "held themselves out as husband and wife." This comes down to a factual question in each situation. A few of the common areas to review in answering this question are: Did the couple introduce themselves as married, i.e., "This is my husband, John Smith," did the couple have a common checking account and common household bills, did they celebrate or recognize some sort of "anniversary date," and of course the biggest one, how did they file tax returns....married or single. But really there is no one fact test and when determining this issue. The judge or jury must look to the totality of the facts related to the relationship. Finally, keep in mind while Alabama recognizes "common law marriage" we don't recognize nor accept "common law divorce." That is to say once your "married" your married and a divorce is needed to end the marrage. Good luck and I hope this was helpful.