What is it called when you live with someone for 7 years but not married?

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asked Nov 16, 2025 in Divorce & Marriage by Rosalind22 (880 points)
What is it called when you live with someone for 7 years but not married?

2 Answers

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answered Nov 16, 2025 by Carter9623 (9,290 points)
When you live with someone for 7 years but are not married it's called common law marriage.

However you're not really legally marred through common law after 7 years of living together.

It's actually a misconception that you're automatically in common law marriage relationships if you live together for 7 years or longer.

Living together for 7 years or longer does not make you legally married under federal law.

It's simply a myth that a certain length of time of living together or cohabitation automatically creates a legal marriage.

For legal marriage, the marriage requires a legal ceremony or in a few states, proof of common law marriage, which also has specific legal requirements beyond just cohabitating for a set amount of time.

Common law marriage does exist, but common law marriage is actually rare and only a handful of states in the United States actually recognize common law marriage and each state also has their own specific rules for what qualifies as common law marriage.

Simply living together, regardless for the amount of time you've lived together does not establish a legal marriage in any state.

In states where common law marriage is recognized, the common law marriage actually requires more than just living together.

And in the states where common law marriage is recognized, it often involves presenting yourselves to the public as a married couple and both partners must also have the intent to be married.

And in states like New York, Oregon and California, they do not recognize common law marriage, so being in a 7 year relationship or living together for 7 years does not result in a legal marriage.

And other states like Texas and Colorado do recognize common law marriage, but as a couple they would need to meet specific criteria that is beyond just the length of time that the couple has been together.
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answered Jan 5 by felandere (400 points)
edited Jan 6 by felandere

Some places call long-term living together a common-law marriage, but it only counts in states that actually recognize it, and the rules vary a lot. If you’re trying to sort out rights or next steps, a quick chat with a local family law attorney can clear the fog. I’ve even seen folks point to things like omegle alternatives for casual info-sharing, but legal advice really depends on where you live.

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