Pennsylvania Divorce: Same Sex Common Law Marriage Confirmed Retroactively by Superior Court

Same sex couples in in Pennsylvania, in light of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing same sex marriage, should also have the right to prove common law marriage retroactively.

Since all common law marriages were abolished in Pennsylvania in January 2005, any couple wishing to prove common law marriages in Pennsylvania now have the same right to prove their status as opposite sex couples. The Pennsylvania Superior Court confirmed in 2017 that same-sex couples their status must have entered into a common law marriage before that date. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion, “IN RE: ESTATE OF STEPHEN CARTER” (issued APRIL 17, 2017), allowed that the surviving common law spouse in a same sex common law marriage ought to have the same rights to prove their status as an opposite sex common law spouse.

The opinion states: “[S]ame-sex couples have precisely the same capacity to enter marriage contracts as do opposite-sex couples, and a court today may not rely on the now-invalidated provisions of the Marriage Law to deny the constitutional reality.” This case followed several court decisions in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Philadelphia and Delaware counties, which all entered orders retroactively recognizing same-sex common law marriages begun prior to 2005.

This ruling is excellent news to same sex couples with relationships of long enough standing to stretch back to 2005. In essence, what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has done is level the playing field for longstanding same sex relationships as far as establishing common law marriages in Pennsylvania.

I can help you prove common law marriage. Call my office at 215-345-5259 for a free first consult.

– Elissa C. Goldberg, Esquire

Law Office of Elissa C. Goldberg
107 North Broad Street, Suite 211
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 215-345-5259
Fax: 215-345-7458