Bucks County PA enters Same Sex Marriage and Common Law Era

The Supreme Court’s Same Sex marriage ruling in June has had its first impact on the interpretation of common law marriage in Bucks County, PA jurisprudence.

Bucks County Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. issued a ruling reported in the Courier Times July 30 allowing that two women who weren’t legally married but lived as spouses for 12 years are entitled to insurance survivor privileges. Sabrina L. Maurer and Kimberly M. Underwood met in college and married in a religious ceremony in 2001 in New Jersey. The marriage was not legally valid. Although Underwood died in 2013 – months before same sex marriage was made legal in Pennsylvania – Fritsch ruled that the two had “entered into a valid and enforceable marriage under Pennsylvania common law on Sept. 2, 2001, and remained married under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until the time of Kimberly M. Underwood’s death on Nov. 20, 2013.”

With the Supreme Court resolving the issue of the legality of same sex marriage  last month, Judge Fritsch was able to concentrate solely on the legal issue of common law marriage, which has its own controversial history. Pennsylvania law abolished common law marriage on January 2, 2005, but in an interesting and circuitous path, still recognizes common law marriages – now regardless of whether the parties are of the same or opposite sex – entered into before 2005. The hot point in the Maurer case (it was Maurer who sued the insurance companies for survivor benefits) appeared to be what evidence constituted proof of the length and continuity of their common law marriage. Maurer was able to produce a wedding certificate from a church, documents showing joint finances and domicile, and witnesses to attest to the continuity and length of the relationship.

This should be a key point to other couples, same sex or opposite sex, who seek shelter under Pennsylvania’s retroactive acknowledgement of common law marriages begun before January 2, 2005. As an attorney who has helped same sex couples understand Pennsylvania’s common law marriage, I’ve learned documentation is key. Exact dates of the onset of living or financial arrangements and how long they continued will be more and more crucial as the Supreme Court ruling continues to reshape local legal practice.

As the saying goes, Timing is Everything – particularly in obtaining legal status for common law marriage in Pennsylvania. This week’s ruling further establishes the need for clear documentation of everything from rental agreements to bank statements to family vacations.