Common Law marriages are NOT accepted or recognized in Puerto Rico. It doesn’t matter if you live together for a year, ten years, or thirty years.
In order to be considered “married” in our jurisdiction, you need to have formally married either in Puerto Rico, or elsewhere. Legal formalities of marriage are required in order to be considered married, and a marriage certificate is the best proof of a legal marriage.
Oftentimes, people will call themselves married, or other people may consider a couple who have been living together for many years as “married”, but when you take a closer look, they really aren’t.
While it is local custom to call partners “married” in order to avoid inquiring into their personal life, unless they have actually married, the supposed spouse cannot claim any legal rights as a true spouse, or a widow or widower. Examples of these rights are communal property and widower’s usufruct.
In simple terms, a valid marriage in Puerto Rico requires a celebration or legal formality.
This doesn’t mean that a lifelong partner has absolutely no rights, but the type of rights he or she can claim vary significantly than those of a true spouse.
Absolutely true,there are too many puertoricans that only repeat what they hear,that cause you live with a partner for certain amount of years is considered “marriage” when is not.the goverment should make that clear to the public.
What the law actually is and what people believe to be true are often two very different things. Many couples do not realize that they are not legally married, even though they have been together for many years. This can end up have severe consequences for a couple, especially when children are involved.
Kirsten, thank you for your insightful comment. That is absolutely true. The information is out there, but these urban myths seem to persist forever. While children often suffer the consequences, the situation is even worse when one spouse dies. None of the communal property provisions come into play.