Marriage Licenses: Common Law Marriage
Information provided by:
Colorado Department of Health and Environment
Center for Health and Environmental Information and Statistics
303-692-2088
Colorado has recognized common law marriage as legal and binding since
1877 and is one of twelve states to do so. A common law marriage is
established when the parties mutually consent to be husband and wife.
Same sex marriage is currently not recognized in the State of Colorado.
Common law marriage does not require any license, ceremony or
documentation to be legal. Parties to a common law marriage are
entitled to all rights, privileges and responsibilities of a legal and
binding marriage. If the parties need documentation of a marriage, it
is recommended that they file a signed, notarized affidavit, attesting
to the marriage, with the county clerk and recorder in the county where
they reside. This affidavit will be filed as a document, not as a
marriage record (sample affidavit follows). Only legal divorce or death
of one of the parties may terminate common law marriage.
The following are the only two requirements for common law marriage:- The parties are free to enter into a marriage. Neither is married to another person.
- Both parties are of legal age (18). If either party is between the
ages of 16 and 18, they shall have obtained appropriate parental or
guardian consent.
The following are examples of evidence of a common law marriage:- The parties hold themselves out to the public as husband and wife
- Maintenance of a joint checking and/or savings account
- Joint ownership of property
- Mutual financial support
- Filing of joint income tax returns
- Registration as husband and wife on applications, leases, contracts, registers, etc.
- Use of the man's last name by the woman
The only time requirement necessary is time enough reasonably to establish these circumstances.Periods of cohabitation, without the aforementioned, do not constitute a common law marriage.
For further information, please visit either the web site of the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or the
Department of Law (Attorney General's Office).
Sample Affidavit