Does New York State recognize common law marriage?
New York does NOT recognize common law marriage, Common-law marriage (or common law marriage), sometimes called informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute is, historically, a form of interpersonal status in which a man and a woman are not legally married. The term is often mistakenly understood to indicate an interpersonal relationship that is not recognized in law. In fact, a common law marriage is just as legally binding as a statutory or ceremonial marriage in some jurisdictions In Meister v. Moore, 96 U.S. 76 (1877), the United States Supreme Court, relying on Hutchins v. Kimmell, 31 Mich. 126 (1875) ruled that Michigan had not abolished common law marriage merely by producing a statute which established rules for the solemnization of marriages, because it did not require marriages to be solemnized ? it only required that, if a marriage were solemnized, it could only be solemnized as provided by law. Otherwise, the court found that, as the right to marry existed at common la
