Common-law wife

A common-law marriage is formed without a license or ceremony, by the couple agreeing to be married and living together openly as spouses. Living together alone was not enough.

Many American states accepted such marriages in earlier times, partly because clergy and officials were scarce in colonial and frontier areas. Most states later ended the practice, each on its own date, but still recognize those made before the cutoff. A pension or estate file may test whether a common-law wife was a lawful widow.