Here's a list of States that Common Law Marriage is legal in. Keep in mind, "legal" and "recognized" are two different ideas.
| Alabama | Hawaii | Massachusetts | New Mexico | South Dakota |
| Alaska | Idaho | Michigan | New York | Tennessee |
| Arizona | Illinois | Minnesota | North Carolina | Texas |
| Arkansas | Indiana | Mississippi | North Dakota | Utah |
| California | Iowa | Missouri | Ohio | Vermont |
| Colorado | Kansas | Montana | Oklahoma | Virginia |
| Connecticut | Kentucky | Nebraska | Oregon | Washington |
| Delaware | Louisiana | Nevada | Pennsylvania | West Virginia |
| Florida | Maine | New Hampshire | Rhode Island | Wisconsin |
| Georgia | Maryland | New Jersey | South Carolina | Wyoming |
Did you see your State listed? It should be because it's completely legal and lawful to have a common law marriage in every State in the United States of America.
The common misconception is that most State's claim to not "recognize" the marriage relationship simply because it is NOT a part of the covenant or contract or agreement. In legal speak, that means they do not have any knowledge of the terms and conditions and therefore are not able to recognize something they are not party to. The reason why common law marriage is legal in every State in the United States of America, every county in the United States of America and every city in the United States of America is because marriage is a right. You are a citizen and as a citizen you have the right to get married.
Every human has the right to marry in the confines of a marital relationship of one male and one female. Here is the United States Supreme Court ruling from 1877. 96 U.S. 76 - 24 L.Ed. 826 MEISTER v. MOORE October Term, 1877 "No doubt, a statute may take away a common-law right; but there is always a presumption that the legislature has no such intention, unless it be plainly expressed. A statute may declare that no marriages shall be valid unless they are solemnized in a prescribed manner; but such an enactment is a very different thing from a law requiring all marriages to be entered into in the presence of a magistrate or a clergyman, or that it be preceded by a license, or publication of banns, or be attested by witnesses. Such formal provisions may be construed as merely directory, instead of being treated as destructive of a common-law right to form the marriage relation by words of present assent. And such, we think, has been the rule generally adopted in construing statutes regulating marriage."
For details on which States "recognize" common law marriage click the link:
The challenge will be for you to believe that common law marriage is legal. The challenge will be for you to walk this out in real life. If this is something you are interested in pursuing order a copy of the book, "Marriage License Fraud" to learn how to have a legal marriage, without a marriage license. There's so much more to learn about marriage and the legalities than we have ever been told.
Seek truth and counsel, the answers will come forth in great measure. The time is now - to receive and walk in your God given right. Marriage is a creature of Heavenly order, not a creature of the State.
