Many people in Minnesota, and all across the United States, are familiar with the general set of things that indicate you are entering a relationship or commitment with another person. These things might include an engagement ring, promises, and perhaps moves from one place into another or even sharing finances. But what if you didn’t really know that was what a relationship entailed? What if you were operating under a different set of rules that both you and your partner had not clearly understood? The foundation of a relationship can be inspired by many things, but it can also be disrupted by a lack of knowledge about how it works.

In the same way that you would examine the functions and operations of a machine before handling it as an industrial professional, you would examine the fundamentals of a commitment before entering into one. In the event that this fundamental knowledge is not present, however, there are ways for you and your partner to set matters straight within your relationship. This article will discuss common law marriage and how it appears in everyday life, especially in an industrial setting.

A common law marriage is one where two partners have not formally entered into a marriage contract, but are recognized legally as having entered into one due to their cohabitation over some period of time. The amount of time varies by state and is often subject to other indicators of intent to form a contract. In many ways, this relates to the idea of “mutual assent” in contract law. How does this concept carry through into personal lives? From a basic legal standpoint, a common law marriage typically requires:

Even after you meet all these conditions, potential difficulties are very real if you do not fully understand the nature and circumstances of what this new commitment entails. Generally, a common law marriage has the same legal status as a formal marriage.

For all intents and purposes, the answer to this question is no. Minnesota, along with Delaware, Georgia, New Hampshire, Monmouth, New Jersey, and South Carolina, does not recognize common law marriage. In this state, particularly, common law marriage cannot be established; however, if you already established one in another state where common law marriages were permitted, you and your spouse may still be recognized as legally married in Minnesota.

If you were to enter into a relationship in Montana or another common law state, you could expect the following:

In some states, you may be able to enter into a relationship with all the components necessary to establish a common law marriage without knowing that you’re doing so. In Minnesota, however, there are many legal and financial consequences to presuming your relationship with someone is a marriage simply because they are your partner. These would be as follows:

These risks exist for anyone who presumes that they are married to their partner without understanding the full nature of the relationship and the components necessary for marriage. In addition to the matter of the relationship presuming at law, both parties are also legally required to form the contract in accordance with the terms for a valid marriage.

If a couple has a child together while they are considered to be in a common law marriage, the child’s status is also unclear. The biological parent may be responsible for making child support payments to the other parent due to presumed paternity/maternity.

Despite all of this, however, common law marriage is generally never the end of the story. As such, in order to avoid any long-term repercussions, it’s best to understand that a personal relationship with another person can become officially recognized as a marriage under the law as well.