If you have a common law marriage, the day may come where you need to provide proof of your relationship with your husband or wife. This could be any time you are doing anything where you would usually use a marriage certificate to prove your relationship. A likely time is when you are buying a home together.
Without a marriage certificate, how can you prove your relationship? To provide proof of your common law marriage, use an affidavit.
What Is An Affidavit?
An affidavit is a legal document. It is a sworn statement of fact, that is signed by the person who wrote it, and is witnessed by a notary public or similar “taker of oaths.” When you have an affidavit, you have a statement that was created under oath or penalty of perjury, stating a fact that can be used in court. It states that the information given is truthful to the best of the person’s knowledge. If these facts are untrue, the writer can face perjury charges.
Affidavits can be written in either first or third person, depending on who writes it. If it is written in the first person, it would contain four parts. First, a statement identifying the person writing it. Second, the declarations made. Third, a statement that everything is true, under penalty of perjury, fine, or imprisonment. And fourth, a statement that this was written under oath and the date. The affidavit will also need to be notarized or otherwise authenticated. Depending on the purpose of the affidavit, different information will be required.
Now that you know the definition of a common law marriage, let’s look at the specifics of that type of affidavit.
Requirements Of A Common Law Marriage Affidavit
You will generally need to provide a common law marriage affidavit from two unrelated people who are aware of your common law relationship. You will also need to provide one that you have written yourself.
Common elements of a common law marriage affidavit by someone other than yourself would be: how long the two of you have lived together, a listing of addresses where you two have lived together, any public announcement of your common law marriage, whether you were considered husband and wife by your friends, neighbors, and relatives.
For Your Affidavit Only
For the common law marriage affidavit from you, it should also state information such as which state you two were in when you agreed to be husband and wife, and the date that you decided to be husband and wife. You should also state whether there were any previous marriages for either of you, whether legalized or common law. For any there were, also give the Wedding dates and how the relationships ended.
Affidavit For A Common Law Marriage: What Is It?, From The Love Shop
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