KS Commonlaw??

I live in Kansas, and was wondering if it was a commonlaw state. I work with two women who claim that they are commonlaw married, one has lived with her "husband" for three months and both of their names are on their vehicle, plus they have a child, the other I am not sure about all the circumstances, but I know they have a child together. My fiance and I are planning to wed next July, but as of the moment, we have lived together, and both of our names are on my truck title. The women have told me that we are commonlaw "husband and wife" but Im not sure, whats the real deal here?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally posted by BowHuntress
I live in Kansas, and was wondering if it was a commonlaw state. I work with two women who claim that they are commonlaw married, one has lived with her "husband" for three months and both of their names are on their vehicle, plus they have a child, the other I am not sure about all the circumstances, but I know they have a child together. My fiance and I are planning to wed next July, but as of the moment, we have lived together, and both of our names are on my truck title. The women have told me that we are commonlaw "husband and wife" but Im not sure, whats the real deal here?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

My response:

Kansas
For a man and woman to form a common-law marriage, they must: (1) have the mental capacity to marry; (2) agree to be married at the present time; (3) represent to the public that they are married; and (4) must marry within their own species.

IAAL


P.S. #4 is a joke.

[Edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE on 07-21-2001 at 10:16 AM]

IAAL,

if all that applies, does it make it perfectly legal to go by my fiance's last name if I wanted to? I was told by my mother that the only time commonlaw is actually recognized legally, is when the two in question are separating and are having a custody battle or property battle, is that true?

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally posted by BowHuntress
IAAL,

if all that applies, does it make it perfectly legal to go by my fiance's last name if I wanted to? I was told by my mother that the only time commonlaw is actually recognized legally, is when the two in question are separating and are having a custody battle or property battle, is that true?

My response:

Do not use his last name until you are authorized by an actual marriage to do so. You'll be in for a world of hurt should the relationship fall apart prior to your actual marriage.

Your Mom is right, to a point.

It is also recognized during property purchases, applying for various forms of insurance, etc. In other words, business transactions recognize Common Law marriage.

However, Common Law marriages are "rebuttable" in the event of a split-up. That means, if you should follow the above law, e.g., declaring yourselves married, and want a divorce from him, and want to split up your property, all he would have to do is deny that the two of you are Common Law married, causing you to spend BIG BUCKS proving that there was, in fact, a Common Law marriage.

Therefore, until you two are actually married by an authorized person, DO NOT declare yourselves married, do not purchase property of ANY sort together, and most of all DO NOT use his surname.

IAAL