<<<<<<<In a message dated 31/05/2004 16:03:31 GMT Daylight Time, dld132@Citlink.net writes: might have had what I would call a "common law" relationship. Were there any laws or rules about this in England? Was such a relationship "recognized" at some point? Did the "wife" or the "children" of the relationship have the right to take the "husband's" surname after a certain number of years? I hope someone out there will share what facts they have about this issue. It might help quite a few people.>>>>>> In England and Wales there is no such thing as "common law marriage" (in spite of what you sometimes see in the media), whereby unmarried persons who live together and behave as if they were married are treated as man and wife. It has not been possible to enter into an informal marriage in England and Wales since the passage of Lord Hardwicke's Act in 1753. It's not a matter of legal or illegal, as in English Law there is no such thing as a 'common law marriage', so the term should not be ued. Whether you live with your "partner", "cohabitee", "live-in-lover", "domestic associate" or "current companion" in the eyes of the law there is no special relationship and you are not equivalent to a husband or wife. For instance the courts have no discretionary jurisdiction to order financial relief on the breakdown of a relationship outside marriage. The situation is different in Scotland where you can have a marriage by "habit and repute" This type of marriage was possible following an Act of 1503, and is still legal today confirmed by the 1939,1977, and 1980 Marriage Reform Acts. The cohabitation must be sufficiently long, normally about a year, for the court to infer that the couple tacitly agreed to marry. The present legal procedure is for one party to raise an action in the Court of Session for a declarator of marriage. If the declarator is granted, the Principal Clerk of Session passes the details to the Scottish Register General who registers the marriage according to Section 2 of the 1977 Act. This type of marriage is rare, there are only about two a year, most Scots undergo regular marriages. Regards Stan Mapstone