common-law marriage

And if people think common-law marriage is a good alternative, think again.

But soon after, Ambar said, officers learned that the couple were in a registered common-law marriage and that he was her daughter’s stepfather.

He married four times, always to dancers, and lived with a fifth in a common-law marriage.

The new definition contrasts with the state’s former standard, established in 1987, which suggested judges should consider several specific markers to establish a common-law marriage.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has rejected the position, and in September, a local court became the first in Japan to recognize two people of the same sex as being in a common-law marriage.