Not all couples living together are ready to officially register their relationship. Sometimes cohabitation "without a stamp" is delayed for many years, people have children, property and gradually forget that in fact they are not husband and wife. On the one hand, who cares. On the other hand, the common-law wife will not be able to become the heiress in full in the event of the death of her roommate, and problems may arise when sharing property with a divorce.
Features of unofficial marriage
Such cohabitation, despite its fairly long existence, can still be the subject of condemnation from others. Often parents and neighbors say: "Who is the common-law wife? Who is she? She has no rights at all, and such a situation is humiliating for her."
In addition, there may be problems with the design of the inheritance, many people who live in a civil marriage with their other half are interested in this issue. Indeed, unlike the usual one, which is regulated by law, it will be very difficult to prove something in case of unforeseen circumstances. And this is confirmed by the provisions of the Civil Code, where the right to inheritance is obtained by close relatives in order of priority for degree of relationship to the compiler of the will. And the common-law wife practically cannot prove her rights, although she was de facto the closest person.
Getting an inheritance from a roommate
As you can see, a common-law wife or husband does not officially have the right to receive property after the death of his second half or during a divorce. Exceptions can be only when one person was disabled and all the time was dependent on the second as a ward. In this case, he can be identified in the eighth stage of inheritance as a contender for the inheritance. It turns out that in other cases the property after death can be received by an unknown distant relative, but not a common-law wife.
She can prove her rights and obligations unless in court on the basis of checks or other evidence that it was she who acquired at the time certain values and property. If nothing of this remains, and the common-law wife did not have a permanent job, it will be very difficult to prove her ownership of something. Also, she cannot claim the benefits that her husband acquired before they began living together.
Among other things, the court will have to prove the fact of cohabitation. For this, written testimonies are collected from loved ones, neighbors or relatives.
Inheritance line
If the cohabitant has died, then his inheritance will have to be shared with other relatives and only with their consent. The first phase of the law is for children, legal spouses or parents. The second - to brothers, sisters, grandfathers and grandmothers, grandchildren, the third - to uncles, aunts and nephews.
Civil wife - what rights does she have in this case? Virtually none. If, of course, no one claims the deceased’s inheritance and she can document that she has lived with him for the past five years.
Civil wife: testament rights
However, if the cohabitants make a will during the life of each other, then they can claim the inheritance after the death of one of them. The will in this case is the document that the citizen draws up at his own discretion with the participation of a notary and has the right to indicate anyone in it, regardless of the degree of relationship. The only exception is dependents and heirs according to the required share.
In other words, a common-law wife can take possession of part of the jointly acquired property after the spouse's death legally, if he includes it in the will. Other participants may also be listed in it, it is advisable to mention who will receive what share and in what proportion. If this is not the case, then all parties to the inheritance can go to court, where their ownership of the property of the deceased will be distributed in kind.
Divorce property
And if everyone is alive and well, but just came to the conclusion that living together became uncomfortable, then there is a need to share what they have acquired together, which is legally not always very simple. Another question is when the separation is carried out after the divorce, and when the joint life was not supported by a stamp, here it is necessary to act differently.
For example, a common-law wife may go to court to take her portion of her possessions in this way. At the same time, she must prove that all this was acquired at her expense or together. At the same time, it is best to have payment documents on hand, or letters or testimonies of witnesses. If possible, you can contact the court of another country, where civil partners in the event of a divorce have the right to legally share property. Among such countries is the United Kingdom. Also, in some states, common-law wives have rights similar to those of law.
Children's question
It is worth noting that a child born in an unregistered marriage has more legislative freedoms than a common-law wife. Her rights and obligations are very negligible compared to her official spouse. But as for children, no one infringes them at the level of jurisdiction. If the common-law husband recognizes them, then they receive his surname and patronymic; he, in turn, educates them and provides them financially.
If the parents diverge, the father is obliged to pay child support, although he was not married to the mother of the child.
The difference between these children from others is manifested only in cases where it is necessary to establish paternity. So, a baby who has appeared in a legal marriage by default has a father, if he does not agree with this fact, he can go to court to establish who exactly the wife gave birth to. But in the second case, the mother takes the entire DNA test, as well as collecting other evidence in favor of the fact that the roommate is the father of his child.
When is civil marriage profitable?
Being a common-law wife is beneficial in the absence of children, equal earnings and equal participation in the acquisition of a property. If people do not plan to live together for a long time, then this is justified.
But when they want children, to build a house and start a joint household, it is better to think about going to the registry office. It is not necessary to take the name of the husband and put on a white dress, you can simply register the relationship, limiting yourself to one trip to the specified authority.
