Commonlaw marriage question

[I cry_ in_the_dark]

I don't know the specifics, but a woman at work has lived with a man for 14 years. He left her, and I am fairly certain he was cheating on her. She said she was told she could be able to collect "alimony".

Given that PA. no longer recognizes commonlaw marriage, tho, I did find this:
"It also included a grandfather clause in the decision, meaning that current common law marriages will be protected legally, while future common law marriages will receive no legal protection.

In Pennsylvania, common law marriage applies only to couples living together for a significant amount of time, who treat one another as spouses and intend to marry. Given this vagueness, defining when a common law marriage began - upon dating, cohabitation or private vows - becomes difficult. "

I told her I'd ask "THE MASTER"  ;-)

1.) Do you think she stands any chance of collecting "alimony"?

[socrateaser]

Unless we know the date upon which the described statute became enforceable, we can't determine if this 14 year common law marriage would be grandfathered in.

And, even if it could be, the court must first recognize the cohabitation as a marriage, which means that the party requesting the declaration of marriage, must prove that the partners held themselves out to the community as married, and that they acted in their private affairs as married people do (joint checking accounts, title to property held jointly, wore rings, etc., ad nauseam).

But, 14 years is a long time, so that would weigh heavily in favor of finding some sort of special relationship between the parties, so, if the grandfather clause is met, then the answer in my opinion, on the very thin facts, is that she would be found to be eligible to seek alimony under the domestic relations statues.

As to whether or not the court would award it, that requires a whole different set of facts that we also don't have.

[I cry_ in_the_dark]

I don't know the specifics, but a woman at work has lived with a man for 14 years. He left her, and I am fairly certain he was cheating on her. She said she was told she could be able to collect "alimony".

Given that PA. no longer recognizes commonlaw marriage, tho, I did find this:
"It also included a grandfather clause in the decision, meaning that current common law marriages will be protected legally, while future common law marriages will receive no legal protection.

In Pennsylvania, common law marriage applies only to couples living together for a significant amount of time, who treat one another as spouses and intend to marry. Given this vagueness, defining when a common law marriage began - upon dating, cohabitation or private vows - becomes difficult. "

I told her I'd ask "THE MASTER"  ;-)

1.) Do you think she stands any chance of collecting "alimony"?

[socrateaser]

Unless we know the date upon which the described statute became enforceable, we can't determine if this 14 year common law marriage would be grandfathered in.

And, even if it could be, the court must first recognize the cohabitation as a marriage, which means that the party requesting the declaration of marriage, must prove that the partners held themselves out to the community as married, and that they acted in their private affairs as married people do (joint checking accounts, title to property held jointly, wore rings, etc., ad nauseam).

But, 14 years is a long time, so that would weigh heavily in favor of finding some sort of special relationship between the parties, so, if the grandfather clause is met, then the answer in my opinion, on the very thin facts, is that she would be found to be eligible to seek alimony under the domestic relations statues.

As to whether or not the court would award it, that requires a whole different set of facts that we also don't have.