[Contribution] Common-law marriage, protected as much as you know

Legal disputes rapidly increase amidst the rise in ‘strategic non-reporting’
To receive legal protection, you must prove ‘family order’

‘Common-law marriage’ refers to a relationship in which people live together like a married couple without legally registering their marriage. In particular, it refers to a relationship that needs to be protected like a de facto legal couple. In the past, there were many cases where middle-aged people or remarried families maintained a common-law relationship without registering their marriage due to unavoidable circumstances, but the recent situation is different. There is an increasing number of cases in which the younger generation postpones marriage registration due to the need to maintain a single household for economic reasons such as loans and subscriptions, or free dating relationships. As the proportion of ‘common-law marriage’ families in our society increases, related legal disputes are also increasing.

Many people often think that a common-law marriage is established if you live together for a certain period of time. However, contrary to general perception, the court's standards for judgment are much more stringent. In fact, this means that, like a married couple who has registered their marriage, they must be able to objectively prove that it was a relationship that requires legal protection. In fact, the Supreme Court also stipulates that for common-law marriage, “simple cohabitation or an intermittent relationship is not enough; the parties must subjectively have an intention to marry, and objectively, there must exist a reality of marital life that allows joint life between spouses to be recognized in terms of family order in terms of social concepts” (see Supreme Court decision 2000Da52943, April 13, 2001, etc.).

The court's standard of judgment can be seen in a case that the author was actually responsible for. Client A provided housing to his lover and temporarily covered living expenses. However, they broke up due to conflicts such as personality differences, and the conflict began when the ex-lover claimed that they were in a common-law marriage and requested property division and alimony.

The author argued that a common-law marriage was not established by emphasizing the fact that there was no wedding during the litigation process, and although it is difficult to reveal specific cases, the couple did not act as spouses or communicate with the other party's relatives and family members. The court also did not recognize their relationship as a ‘common-law marriage.’ It was determined that there was no evidence to support a common-law marriage. As the ‘common-law marriage’ was not recognized, all claims for property division and alimony were dismissed.

In this way, the court's standards in common-law marriage disputes require objective indicators, contrary to our expectations. This is why you should not think that you can easily receive legal protection just because common-law marriage has become common. When a dispute arises, there are surprisingly many cases in which no protection is provided.

Therefore, if a common-law marriage needs to be recognized or its establishment cannot be recognized, you should check your situation in advance from a legal perspective. Just because you have not legally registered your marriage does not mean that you are relieved of all responsibility or that your rights are not recognized. However, in order to be legally recognized, it is not important to simply live together, but it is necessary to consider whether they have ever expressed their intention to marry, whether there is a basis to believe that they are an actual couple or started a family, and what evidence is available to prove this. Whether or not you are in a common-law marriage is not a matter to be disputed after the fact, but rather a matter that should be thoroughly discussed with a legal expert before a dispute arises to accurately check your relationship and rights.

● Contributions by external writers may differ from our editorial direction.

Gyeonggi Ilbo webmaster@kyeonggi.com

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