• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Call For A Free Consultation651-686-8800
  • Firm Overview
    • Articles
    • Settlements & Verdicts
    • Video Center
  • Attorneys
    • Jeffrey S. Sheridan
    • DeAnne L. Dulas
    • Andrew T. Hunstad
    • Randall A. Kins
  • Practice Areas
    • Criminal Defense
    • Aggressive DWI Defense
    • Aviation Lawyers
    • Family Law
    • Estate Planning & Litigation
    • LGBT Rights and Family Issues
    • Business Law And Litigation
      • Real Estate Law
      • Small Business Law
    • Federal Workers’ Compensation
    • Other Areas Of Law
  • Blog
  • Contact

Minnesota Does Not Recognize Common-Law Marriage

September 14, 2016 by Sheridan & Dulas, P.A.

Marriage is about a lot more than falling in love. Marriage is also a legal and economic relationship which, among other things, provides spouses with important property rights when they divorce. In Minnesota, a divorcing spouse has the right to an equitable share of the couple’s marital property. An unmarried person living with his or her significant other generally has no similar right to property division when the couple breaks up.

A few states – not including Minnesota – recognize common-law marriage, in which a marriage is deemed to exist even if the couple never went through the formalities of a marriage certificate and a wedding ceremony. A common-law marriage is typically proved by showing the couple lived together, consider themselves a married couple, and hold themselves out to others as a married couple. In states that recognize common-law marriage, the parties have the full property-division rights of spouses in a formal marriage.

As cohabitation without marriage has become more socially acceptable, common-law marriage is increasingly becoming an historical relic. The increase in unmarried couples living together has led a few jurisdictions to grant some marriage-like protections to partners in a cohabiting relationship when they split up.

Minnesota is not one of those jurisdictions. Here, an unmarried couple who live together in a sexual relationship have no rights in each other’s property unless both parties sign a written contract to that effect. Such a contract is enforceable only after the parties break up. Under Minnesota law, in the absence of such a contract the state courts have no jurisdiction to enforce a claim by one former cohabiting party to the property or earnings of the other.

Source: National Public Radio, “No, You’re Not In A Common-Law Marriage After 7 Years Together,” Heidi Glenn, Sept. 4, 2016

Categories: Property Division Tags: Family Law, Property Division

Primary Sidebar

Practice Areas

  • Criminal Defense
  • Aggressive DWI Defense
  • Family Law
  • Estate Planning & Litigation
  • LGBT Rights and Family Issues
  • Aviation Law
  • Federal Workers’ Compensation
  • Business Law And Litigation
    • Small Business Law
    • Real Estate Law
  • Other Areas Of Law

Contact the Firm

    Footer

    Schedule a Consultation

    Sheridan & Dulas, P.A. logo Sheridan & Dulas, P.A.

    1380 Corporate Center Curve #320
    Eagan, MN 55121

    Tel: 651-686-8800
    Driving Directions

    Hours

    Mon-Fri: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

    Schedule a Consultation

    Practice Areas

    • Criminal Defense
    • Aggressive DWI Defense
    • Family Law
    • Estate Planning & Litigation
    • LGBT Rights and Family Issues
    • Aviation Law
    • Federal Workers’ Compensation
    • Business Law And Litigation
      • Small Business Law
      • Real Estate Law
    • Other Areas Of Law
    The information contained in this website is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any matter. The transmission and receipt of information contained on this website, in whole or in part, or communication with the Sheridan & Dulas, P.A. via the Internet or e-mail through this website does not constitute or create a lawyer-client relationship between this firm and any recipient. You should not send any confidential information in response to this webpage. Such responses will not create a lawyer-client relationship, and whatever you disclose will not be privileged or confidential unless this firm has agreed to act as your legal counsel and you have executed a written engagement agreement with Sheridan & Dulas, P.A.. | Copyright © 2021 | All rights reserved | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Sitemap