In English law there's no such thing as a common-law wedding. (It's
also a myth that a ship's captain can marry anyone.) You go to a
Registry Office or a Church. If you want to dispute this, then try it
with the lawyers when the person you thought was your partner dies.
But it certainly exists in some other places - eg Marc has told us
what he plans to do in Australia where the concept of a 'de facto'
partner exists. But when you arrive here as an expat in Belgium with
a 'de facto wife' you find it's not recognised everywhere outside Oz!
Anyway as I understand it, the idea of the marriage ceremony and
celebrations goes back to times before there were written records (or
before most people could read) and the fact that a couple were married
was dependent on witnesses. If there was a huge piss-up there's a
good chance of those present remembering it and supporting the
couple's claims to be married.
But long live fornication... :-)
Jez
On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 2:53 PM, Donald <d1956m198d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Certainly in Scots Law a declaration by the two parties used to be
> enough. If you hadn't bothered before, in Common Law your union could be
> recognised retrospectively by habit and repute. It was the fornication
> without any intent to stay together that disgusted community decency.
>
> D.
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