I have lived with my boyfriend for a few years--are we common law married?

Unless you and your boyfriend were already common law married by January 1, 1997 then you are not common law married. Georgia does not recognize common-law marriages entered into after January 1, 1997. O.C.G.A. § 19-3-1.1.

Also, a common misconception is that you only have to live together to be common law married. To be common law married, the parties must meet three basic requirements.

First, the parties must be able to enter into a marriage contract--meaning they cannot be married to anyone else and they must be old enough to marry. Second, the parties must agree to live together as man and wife. Finally, the parties must consummate the agreement by performing acts demonstrating their agreement such as wearing wedding rings, filing joint taxes, referring to one another as their spouse, and the “wife” using her "married" name. The parties must fulfill all three requirements at the same time. In other words, if the parties sometimes held themselves out as unmarried when that was convenient or served their purposes and at other times held themselves out as married, they would not be common law married.

Every case is different and the courts would look at the particular facts and circumstances to determine whether a common law marriage existed. If you are common law married, you would need a divorce before being able to marry someone else.

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