Twenty years together, joint accounts, children raised, a house shared — surely at some point Florida treats a couple as married? The answer is a flat no, and it surprises people weekly: Florida abolished common law marriage on January 1, 1968, and no amount of cohabitation, shared finances, or mutual devotion creates a marriage here. But the full picture has real nuance — Florida does recognize common law marriages validly formed elsewhere, and the couples caught by the rule have concrete options. The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. brings over 89 years of combined experience to the questions long-term unmarried couples bring to Brevard County courts.
The Rule: Abolished in 1968, No Exceptions Since
Under § 741.211, Florida Statutes, no common law marriage entered into in Florida after January 1, 1968 is valid. The rule admits no duration exception (thirty years changes nothing), no reliance exception (introducing each other as spouses changes nothing), and no equity exception (courts cannot declare a marriage that statute forbids). What this means at the moments that matter: at separation, there is no divorce — no equitable distribution, no alimony, property follows title, and untangling shared finances runs through ordinary civil law; at death, the surviving partner is a legal stranger — no intestate inheritance, no elective share, no homestead protection, no automatic role in medical decisions or funeral arrangements; for benefits, no spousal Social Security, no marital pension survivorships, no spousal insurance coverage. The myth of the seven-year rule (or any-year rule) costs Florida couples dearly precisely because they assume protections exist and plan nothing.
The Exception: Marriages Validly Formed Elsewhere
Florida honors marriages valid where created — including common law marriages properly formed in states that recognize them (a shrinking list that includes Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, and a few others, plus older marriages formed before various states’ abolition dates, and Florida common law marriages predating 1968). A couple who genuinely established a common law marriage under Texas law — agreement to be married, cohabitation, holding out as spouses, while living there — and later moved to Melbourne is married in Florida: divorce, equitable distribution, alimony, inheritance, all of it applies. These cases turn on proving the marriage formed under the other state’s law during residence there: evidence of the agreement, joint filings as spouses, insurance designations, testimony of holding out. We litigate both directions — establishing the out-of-state marriage for the partner who needs its protections, and defeating claimed ones asserted for the first time at death or breakup, where the proof is thin and the incentive obvious.
What Unmarried Couples Actually Have — and What They Can Build
Florida law gives long-term partners two categories of protection: what they build deliberately, and almost nothing else. The deliberate toolkit is genuinely effective: a cohabitation agreement settling property, finances, and separation terms by contract; estate documents — wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, durable powers of attorney, healthcare surrogates — which for unmarried partners are not optional refinements but the only mechanism by which the survivor inherits or decides anything; joint titling with survivorship where co-ownership is intended; and life insurance covering the dependency the law will not. For children, marriage was never the source of rights anyway: paternity, support, and timesharing run identically for unmarried parents once established. What cannot be built: the automatic statuses — spousal Social Security, elective share, and the presumptions that come only with a license. Couples who want those have exactly one path, and the courthouse issues it for a modest fee.
The Moments These Cases Reach Us
The pattern is consistent: the rule surprises people at the worst times. The partner of twenty years dies intestate, and his children from a prior marriage inherit the house she lives in. The breakup after fifteen years, where everything is titled to him and her contributions bought no interest the law recognizes. The hospital that turns to a distant sibling rather than the partner of decades. The claimed Texas marriage surfacing for the first time in probate. Some of these have partial after-the-fact remedies — equitable claims, constructive trust theories, proof of the out-of-state marriage — and all of them had complete before-the-fact solutions that cost a fraction of the litigation. With over 89 years of combined experience, our team handles both: the planning that prevents the crisis, and the litigation when prevention never happened.
We have lived together since 2005. Are we married in Florida?
No — not by any duration of cohabitation in Florida. If you lived in a common law marriage state and formed the marriage under its rules while there, that marriage travels with you; otherwise, the protections you want must be built by contract and estate documents.
My partner died without a will. Do I inherit anything?
As an unmarried partner: nothing by intestacy — Florida’s succession runs to relatives. Jointly titled survivorship assets and accounts naming you as beneficiary pass to you; everything else goes to the family tree. Depending on facts, limited equitable claims may exist; bring the situation to counsel quickly, as probate deadlines run.
Can we sign something that makes us common law married?
No document creates a common law marriage in Florida — but the right documents recreate most of its protections: a cohabitation agreement, wills, designations, and healthcare directives. Or marry: it remains the only path to the statutory package.
How do I prove my out-of-state common law marriage?
Under the forming state’s elements, with evidence from the period you lived there: joint tax returns filed as married, insurance and benefit designations as spouse, leases and accounts, and witnesses to how you held yourselves out. These cases are fact-intensive and very winnable with real records.
No Marriage by Accident — Protection by Design
Florida gives unmarried couples exactly what they build and nothing they assume. The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. builds those protections — and litigates their absence — for partners throughout Melbourne, Palm Bay, Viera, and Titusville. Call (321) 529-7777 or schedule a consultation today.