Florida Common Law Marriage

Florida has not recognized Common Law Marriage since 1968. In 1960, only 460,000 couples identified themselves as living together without marriage, according to CBS News. In 2007, USA Today reported that 6.4 million people were living as a couple out of wedlock.
In Florida, if you are living with your significant other and share a house payment, vehicles and debt, then there are options for you. The best thing to do is speak with a lawyer about protecting yourself from what could be a disaster if things do not end-up happily ever after.
If you previously lived in a state that recognizes Common Law Marriage, of which there are only 11, then Florida still recognizes your status as "married." However, for those of you entering into a "moving in together" portion of your relationship, be certain to speak with someone about protecting yourself and your partner from future disaster. None of us want to think the worse of our partners, but at least if a marriage does not work you have the law to protect you from all debt falling on you. Until the State of Florida decides this is a growing matter that needs to be addressed, options are the key to your future success and your present comfort.
Recently, a Long Island doctor donated his kidney to his wife to save her life. Eight years and one extra-marital affair later, the doctor demanded the
When Jason Jackson was two years old, his mother’s boyfriend killed her, then shot Jason in the head before shooting himself. Jason survived the shooting, but it cost him his mobility on the right side of his body.
Arnold Rice Sharkey, a veteran officer of the Jacksonville police force, was arrested recently and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and domestic aggravated assault. Officer Sharkey allegedly used his Chevrolet as a weapon against his estranged wife, Victoria Sharkey, and her brother.


After three years of a bitter divorce battle, a Connecticut man, Richard Shenkman, allegedly kidnapped his ex-wife, Nancy Tyler, holding her at gunpoint and burning down their former home. He also allegedly burned down Ms. Tyler’s beach house two years earlier. Mr. Shenkman had been ordered by the divorce court to turn the home over to his ex-wife and to pay her $100,000 for legal fees. He reportedly told police that he kidnapped his wife and burned down the home because he was afraid he was going to be held in contempt of court for not paying the settlement as required.
A Jefferson City, Missouri woman, Terri Chilton, has been arrested and charged with first degree endangering the welfare of a child. The victim was her own one year old granddaughter, whom Ms. Chilton allegedly fed blood thinners in order to make the child ill.
The Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV) recently completed a project intended to ensure that the voices of domestic violence sufferers remain central to their work. The project was designed to capture the insight provided by survivors in order to improve the efficacy of the Battered Women’s Movement. FCADV is dedicated to giving a voice to survivors of domestic abuse, so that they can share their stories and pass on lessons they have learned.
Mechelle Seals had very low self esteem and very little experience with men when she met her first husband. After a year of marriage, however, a fight ended in the man throwing Ms. Seals to the ground and threatening their four month old daughter with a gun. Her second husband verbally abused her, and was convicted of sexually abusing her mentally handicapped daughter.
Famous actor Charlie Sheen was arrested on Christmas day for an alleged assault on his wife, Brooke Mueller. But Sheen’s manager has told reporters that the couple is working out their differences amicably and has no plans to divorce. Other sources have reported that Mueller wants a separation. She has taken out a restraining order against her husband, and was recently seen vacationing without him. But she is also reportedly under a lot of pressure to change her story of the events on Christmas day; Sheen has a lot to lose and could face prison time if convicted.
Tiger Woods has cancelled at least three scheduled meetings with the Florida Highway Patrol to discuss the car accident he was involved in early Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving. He is not required by Florida law to talk to police about a traffic accident under investigation. But he has spoken to reporters in an attempt to dispel rumors that the accident happened in the middle of a domestic dispute with his wife, Elin Nordegren.
Samad Nesser has tried every legal avenue to prevent his eleven year old son from being taken to France to stay with his mother and her new husband. According to Nesser, his ex-wife has allowed his son to be abused by the new husband, and suffers from sleeplessness and chest pains whenever he returns home from staying with them. Nesser is an American citizen, but his wife is not. The husband, a French citizen, used to live in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was the subject of a restraining order after allegedly breaking into his girlfriend’s home and hitting and pushing her and her elderly mother to the floor. Nesser claims that this same man locked his son in an attic and threatened to kill him.
David Swain of Jamestown, Rhode Island, nearly got away with murdering his wife, Shelley Tyre, during a scuba diving trip to the British Virgin Islands ten years ago. Prosecutors called it a “near perfect” murder, but this month a jury has convicted him of murder – and he may spend the rest of his life in a Caribbean prison.
A Nevada couple recently woke up with a car on top of them in their own bedroom. After an hour of being pinned down to the bed with motor fluid raining into their faces, the two college students, Kristin Palmer and Trent Wood, were rescued by emergency workers. They suffered remarkably minor injuries. The man driving the car, Eric Cross, allegedly slammed into the house not only because he was 
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Written by Whitney R. Lonker, Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.,





In Florida, rising tides of

