Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

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.