• Supporting Our Clients and the Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
    • Skip to primary navigation
    • Skip to main content
    • Skip to primary sidebar
    • Skip to footer
    • Home
    • Our Firm
      • About Our Firm
      • Attorney and Staff Profiles
      • Communities We Serve
        • Bergen County
        • Clifton
        • Essex County
        • Hudson County
        • Hunterdon County
        • Middlesex County
          • Edison
          • Woodbridge
        • Morris County
        • Passaic County
        • Somerset County
          • Hillsborough
          • Warren
        • Sussex County
          • Franklin
        • Union County
          • Plainfield
    • Services
      • Asset & Business Planning
      • Estate And Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Services
      • Incapacity Planning
      • IRA & Retirement Planning
      • Legacy Planning Services
      • Medicaid and Elder Law
      • SECURE Act
      • Special Needs Planning
      • Trust Administration
    • Seminars
    • Resources
      • Elder Law
        • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
        • Elder Law reports
        • Elder Law Resources
          • Plainfield Elder Law
      • Estate Planning
        • Estate Planning Checkup
        • Estate Planning Definitions
        • Incapacity Planning Definitions
        • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
        • New Jersey Estate Planning Resources
        • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
      • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
      • Free Seminars
      • Frequently Asked Questions
        • Business Succession Planning
        • Estate Planning
        • Elder Law
        • Estate Planning for Women
        • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
        • Legacy Wealth Planning
        • LGBTQ Estate Planning
        • Medicaid
        • Trust Administration & Probate
        • Wills and Trusts
      • Newsletters
      • Pre Consultation Form
      • Probate and Trust Administration
        • Bereavement Resources
        • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
        • Loss of a Loved One
        • Probate Resources
          • Hillsborough Township Probate
          • Plainfield Probate
        • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
        • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
        • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
        • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
      • Published Books
    • Reviews
      • Our Reviews
      • Review Us
    • Blog
    • Contact Us

    Augulis Law Firm

    New Jersey Estate Planning Information Center

    Connect with us today(908) 222-8803

    • Attend A Seminar
      • Attend A Webinar
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkdin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    Committed to helping New Jersey families preserve and protect their wealth.
    Home » Estate Planning Articles » The Accidental Spouse

    The Accidental Spouse

    February 29, 2012

    Compliments of Our Law Firm,
    By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

    John Ober may or may not have thought he was married, but a Montana court certainly believed he was – and the fact that he was married determined what happened to his estate.

    John Ober and Selma Klein had a long-term live-in relationship which lasted for many years. John proposed to Selma in 1987, but they never applied for a marriage license and never had a marriage ceremony. They kept filing tax returns as single individuals, and Selma, who had been married before, continued to collect benefits from her deceased first husband’s Social Security account.

    Although they never made it “official,” John and Selma wore wedding rings, and John carried a photo of Selma in his wallet. On the back of the photo, John had written “my wife.” When John died without a Will in 2001, the court weighed the evidence and determined that under Montana law, John and Selma had entered into a common law marriage. Selma had the same inheritance rights as a wife who married in a traditional ceremony.

    Could you be an accidental husband – or wife? If you live in a state that currently recognizes or has recently recognized common law marriage, you may be married and not realize it. These states include Alabama, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.

    Each state has its own requirements, but a common law marriage generally requires the parties to be legally capable of marrying, to express a present desire to marry, and to live together. Expressing a present desire to marry can be as simple as wearing wedding rings or telling friends or co-workers that you are married.

    Once you enter into a common law marriage, there is no such thing as a common law divorce. Even states that do not allow common law marriage will recognize a common law marriage validly entered into in another state. Imagine you live in Utah and do all the things necessary to enter into a common law marriage. If you later move to North Carolina, your marriage will be legal and valid in North Carolina.

    A common law marriage, particularly one you are not aware of, can have far-reaching consequences. It can render a later marriage null and void. It can even disrupt a meticulously planned estate, giving unanticipated inheritance rights to a common law spouse and denying other family members their inheritances.

    If you lived with someone in any of the common law states mentioned above, even briefly, meet with an estate planning attorney. He or she can help you determine your marital status, put any lingering doubts to rest, and ensure that your estate plan is not derailed by any unwelcome surprises.

    About Alan Augulis, Estate Planning Attorney

    Mr. Augulis founded his Warren, New Jersey law firm so that he could focus his practice in the areas of advanced estate planning and tax law. Mr. Augulis has invested considerable time and energy helping to educate others on the topic of estate planning and has become a sought-after speaker in the tax and estate planning arena because of his informative and entertaining seminars.

    Primary Sidebar

    Augulis Law Firm

    Free Estate Planning Worksheet

    There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.

    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

    Follow Us

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkdin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram

    Testimonials

    Client Review
    August 4, 2020
        

    Very happy with work. Everything explained clearly and concisely and all my questions were answered completely. Process of putting together plan and review of documents was very organized and easy to understand.

    norm

    Where we are

    Augulis Law Firm
    5 Mountain Blvd. Suite 5
    Warren Twp, NJ 07059
    Phone: (908) 222-8803
    Fax: (908) 222-8815

    See Larger Map Get Directions

    Office Hours

    Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Map

    map

    Footer

    • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap
    • Contact Us

    Connect with Us

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkdin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    footer-logo

    Augulis Law Firm
    All Right Reseved.

    Attorney Advertisement

    © 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.