common law marriage
not sure about Alabama...I just grabbed a sheet about it here in CO where I'm at...if you go to your local library, you should be able to find out what entails a common law marriage...I can tell you that in the military, unless you fill out a form saying you're common law married, you don't get housing or any of the other marriage perks by just saying you're common law married...then again, that's the military, I'd check out the library if I were you...they ashould have the info you need...as far as your property and your son goes, your son, you will have to go to court over, regardless...your property, you'll probably have to go over that as well, unless you can prove that your things were in your possession before you moved in with him