• The common-law marriage traces its roots to the English ecclesiastical courts, which until 1753 recognized a kind of informal marriage known as sponsalia per verba de praesenti, which was entered into without ceremony. Today a common-law marriage, which is the full equivalent of a ceremonial marriage, is authorized in 11 states and in the District of Columbia. If a common-law marriage is established in a state that recognizes such marriages, other states, even those that do not authorize common-law marriage, must give full faith and credit to the marriage. A common-law marriage can be dissolved only by annulment, divorce, or death.
— Also termed consensual marriage; informal marriage. See common-law husband under HUSBAND; common-law wife under WIFE. See SPONSALIA PER VERBA DE PRAESENTI. [Cases: Marriage 13, 22. C.J.S. Marriage §§ 10, 19–20, 24–25.]
