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Florida Surviving Spouse Inheritance Rights: Does Florida Recognize Common Law Marriages Validly Created in a State or Country that Recognizes Such Marriages?

Uncategorized Oct 12, 2018
post about Florida Surviving Spouse Inheritance Rights: Does Florida Recognize Common Law Marriages Validly Created in a State or Country that Recognizes Such Marriages?

Do Florida probate courts recognize common law marriages? What is a common law marriage? Will Florida recognize a common law marriage if it was created in a jurisdiction outside of Florida that recognizes common law marriages? You may want to read Cohen v. Shushan, a March 15,2017 Second DCA opinion. 

The idea of common law marriage is that, if you are holding yourself out as a married couple, you may be entitled to some of the benefits of a marriage. Florida trust and estates lawyers know that these benefits could include tax and/or probate benefits. The problem is that Florida does not recognize common law marriages anymore. HOWEVER, even though Florida does not have its own common law marriage rules and/or statute, it recognizes something known as reciprocity. Therefore, under certain circumstances, Florida will recognize a common law marriage that was created in another state or foreign country .

In Cohen v. Shushan, a reputed spouse claims that she was a “common law spouse” of the decedent. She argued that, in Israel,  this was a legally recognized relationship and the functional equivalent of marriage. Therefore, she believed that she was entitled to a surviving spouse’s share of the decedent’s Florida estate. The trial court agreed. The Second DCA reversed and remanded. In it’s analysis, the Second DCA considered what the Israeli state recognizes as marriage. West Palm Beach probate lawyers know that ” Florida courts must respect a common law marriage validly created in a jurisdiction that recognizes such marriages.” Therefore, the issue here was whether or not Israel recognized the reputed spouse’s “marriage” or common law marriage to the decedent as valid.