Common Law Marriage and the Uniform and General Reputation

May 14, 2020

Volk v. Vieccchi, 2020 UT App 77 (Filed May 14, 2020). 

To establish a common law marriage, you need to establish several factors including a uniform and general reputation of being a married couple. A uniform and general reputation is just that--uniform and general--not a perfect or total reputation. Not every person needs to know a couple is married, but rather a uniform and general reputation. This is different than the defense against the establishment of a common law marriage trying to show that the couple has a predominately partial or divided. If most people believe a couple is married and then generally and predominately hold themselves out as married, but there are a few individuals that "know" they are not married, the few do not undue the general reputation of the many. “¶20 But in crafting section 30-1-4.5, our legislature chose to base this requirement on the couple’s acquisition of a uniform and general reputation for being husband and wife, not on the awareness by a few of the legal status of a couple’s union… ¶21 The plain meaning of the term “reputation” indicates that it does not rise and fall on particular persons’ knowledge. Rather, a reputation is a collective perception or estimation by the public or a community.”

Click HERE to review the entire case.

Volk v. Vieccchi, 2020 UT App 77 (Filed May 14, 2020). 

February 13, 2020
Credit card debts that represent an expense should not be double counted in the court’s needs analysis.

Redden v. Redden, 2020, UT App 22 (Filed February 13, 2020). Husband conceded that some of the expenses underlying the […]

Read More
April 16, 2020
Alimony and Imputing Income for Unemployment.

As part of these analyses [for alimony], “courts in divorce cases may consider imputing income to an unemployed spouse in […]

Read More
April 18, 2019
An attorney's failure to comply with the standards of professionalism and civility is not grounds to set aside a judgment.

Cox v. Hefley, 2019 UT App 60 (Filed April 18, 2019). In this case, a Mother and Father signed an […]

Read More
envelopephone-handsetmap-markermagnifiercrossmenuarrow-up-circle