Posted in: Lawyers › None
First comes love, then comes living together, then comes… well, what then?
For some couples, the important “marriage” piece of the popular rhyme never comes to fruition. Their commitment is strong, but their relationship no longer carries weight in the eyes of the law.
The South Carolina Supreme Court abolished common law marriage in 2019, and Melody Breeden and Anne Kelley Russell tackled its dissolvement in their article for SC Lawyer, “From This Day Forward: The Abolishment of Common Law Marriage in South Carolina.”
Both Estate Planning and Probate Law attorneys, one may ask, “How did these two come to write an article on common law marriage?”
The answer is pretty simple.
The duo serves on the Probate Estate and Trust Council and collaborated on an article for the American Bar Association. Because Breeden and Russell have similar practices in different regions of the state, they often work in tandem on various projects.
“The element of marriage arises frequently in probate proceedings,” says Russell, who practices Moore & Van Allen, PLLC in Charleston. “We hope that our article raises awareness of the difficulties of proving a common-law marriage since the entrance of this order and encourages attorneys to get their clients to the probate court to get a marriage license – it’s easy and affordable!”
In her estate planning and probate practice, Breeden has worked with numerous clients facing common-law marriage issues over the years. "It becomes extremely problematic after a person dies,” she says. “The contested matter I was involved with lasted for years, and the decedent’s kids insisted my client was not to have the title ‘spouse’ despite living with their father for over 20 years. They hated my client, which came out in court. The probate court ruled her to be the spouse, and the decedent’s children appealed that."
“I think the biggest take away is to advise clients who have been together since before the Supreme Court ruling, is if you want to be married … just go get married, and if you don’t want to be married, don’t get married and don’t hold yourself out as married,” she says.