common-law marriage

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Only eight states recognize common-law marriage, and California is not one of them.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2024

Knight, a confederate army deserter, was in a common-law marriage with a former slave.

From The Guardian • Dec. 29, 2015

Mrs. Fox jokes that if common-law marriage were recognized in New York, she would have been the common-law wife of a good friend, Nate, who lived at the house from 2005 until 2013.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2015

Lawmakers here are considering a bill that would dub the ukulele the official state instrument, a designation that seems in some ways like a formal ceremony for a common-law marriage.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 13, 2014

Illinois follows New York in abolishing the common-law marriage, and raises the age to eighteen in a woman and twenty-one in a man.

From Popular Law-making by Stimson, Frederic Jesup