Common Law Marriage in Colorado: Requirements & How It Works (2026)

Colorado recognizes common law marriage. Under the framework established by the Colorado Supreme Court in In re Marriage of Hogsett & Neale, 2021 CO 1, a couple forms a valid common law marriage when both parties mutually intend to be married and conduct their lives in a way that manifests that intent. No minimum number of years of cohabitation is required.

Information last verified on June 2, 2026.

Explore related Colorado family law: See Colorado alimony (spousal maintenance) laws and Colorado child support laws for the financial obligations that attach once a marriage (including a common law marriage) ends.

Does Colorado recognize common law marriage?

Yes. Colorado is one of a small number of US states that still permits couples to form a new common law marriage. A common law marriage is a legally valid marriage formed without a marriage license or solemnization ceremony. The couple must meet the requirements described below. Once formed, the marriage is legally identical to any other Colorado marriage.

Colorado has recognized common law marriage for well over a century. The modern statutory foundation appears in C.R.S. section 14-2-109.5, which establishes the minimum age requirement for common law marriages entered on or after September 1, 2006. The Colorado Supreme Court most recently addressed the full legal test in In re Marriage of Hogsett & Neale, 2021 CO 1, where the court updated and clarified the standard that courts apply when one party asserts that a common law marriage existed.

Because Colorado is a common law marriage state, its courts regularly adjudicate claims that a common law marriage was formed, particularly in dissolution, probate, and benefit proceedings.

The requirements for a Colorado common law marriage

Under In re Marriage of Hogsett & Neale, 2021 CO 1, a Colorado common law marriage requires two elements:

1. Mutual intent to be married. Both parties must have a present, mutual agreement that they are married to each other. The intent must be shared; one party cannot unilaterally create a marriage.
2. Conduct that manifests that intent. The parties must behave in ways that are consistent with and reflective of that marital intent.

The court in Hogsett explicitly moved away from a checklist approach and toward a totality-of-the-circumstances inquiry. No single factor is required and no single factor is conclusive. The court examines the full picture of the relationship.

Factors that courts have found relevant include:

• Cohabitation (living together)
• Referring to each other as spouses in public (holding out)
• Filing joint federal or state income tax returns as a married couple
• Holding joint bank accounts or jointly titled property
• Naming each other as spouse or beneficiary on insurance policies, retirement accounts, or estate documents
• Community reputation as a married couple among family, friends, and colleagues
• Using a shared surname

None of these factors is mandatory. A couple that never filed a joint tax return may still have a valid common law marriage if other strong evidence of mutual marital intent exists. Conversely, sharing a bank account alone does not establish a common law marriage if the mutual intent element is absent.

The minimum age requirement

C.R.S. section 14-2-109.5(1) provides that a common law marriage entered into on or after September 1, 2006 is not recognized as valid in Colorado unless, at the time it was entered into, each party was 18 years of age or older and the marriage was not prohibited under C.R.S. section 14-2-110. A purported common law marriage in which either party was under 18 at the time of formation will not be recognized as valid in Colorado. The statute is expressly limited to marriages entered into on or after September 1, 2006, so it does not reach a common law marriage formed before that date.

How Hogsett changed the law

In re Marriage of Hogsett & Neale, 2021 CO 1 modernized the test that had been in place since People v. Lucero, 747 P.2d 660 (Colo. 1987). The older Lucero framework relied heavily on a specific list of factors, with cohabitation and holding out given particular weight. Hogsett replaced that more mechanical approach with an expressly flexible, context-sensitive inquiry. The court observed that rigid formulas are poorly suited to evaluating the varied ways in which couples structure their lives together in the modern era. After Hogsett, Colorado courts ask whether the totality of the evidence demonstrates mutual intent and conduct consistent with marriage, rather than checking items off a list.

The seven-year myth

One of the most persistent misconceptions about common law marriage is that couples must live together for seven years (or some other fixed period) before a common law marriage arises. This is false. No state sets a minimum number of years of cohabitation as a requirement for common law marriage, and Colorado is no exception. The duration of cohabitation is one piece of evidence that a court may consider in assessing the totality of the circumstances, but a couple could form a valid common law marriage after a far shorter period if the mutual-intent-and-conduct test is otherwise satisfied.

How you prove a Colorado common law marriage

Proving a common law marriage typically becomes necessary in the context of a dissolution proceeding, a probate claim, a wrongful-death action, a Social Security survivor benefit claim, or a spousal-privilege dispute. Because no license or certificate exists, the party asserting the marriage must establish it through other evidence.

Evidence courts find persuasive in Colorado common law marriage cases includes:

• Joint tax returns: Federal and Colorado income tax returns filed with a married-filing-jointly status are among the strongest indicators. The parties signed those returns under penalty of perjury, which makes them highly credible evidence of how the parties characterized their own relationship.
• Joint financial accounts and property: Bank accounts, mortgages, leases, and vehicle titles in both names support the inference of a shared marital household.
• Beneficiary and emergency contact designations: Naming the other person as spouse on employer benefits, life insurance, retirement accounts, or hospital emergency-contact forms reflects an intent to treat the relationship as a marriage.
• Affidavits from third parties: Statements from family members, friends, neighbors, and colleagues who describe the couple as married in their social community.
• Correspondence and communications: Texts, emails, social media posts, or holiday cards that describe the other party as a spouse or use the word "husband" or "wife."
• Government records: Mortgage applications and immigration documents in which a party listed the other as spouse can also be relevant.

Because the evidence is fact-specific, a party disputing a common law marriage claim will present counter-evidence showing that one or both parties lacked mutual marital intent, for example by producing evidence that one party consistently described the relationship as non-marital or refused to hold out as married.

Does a Colorado common law marriage have the same legal effect as a ceremonial marriage?

Yes. A validly formed Colorado common law marriage is legally indistinguishable from a marriage performed with a license and ceremony. The legal consequences are identical:

• Marital property rights: Spouses have rights in marital property acquired during the marriage under Colorado's equitable-distribution framework.
• Spousal maintenance: Either spouse may seek spousal maintenance (alimony) under C.R.S. section 14-10-114 upon dissolution.
• Intestate inheritance: A surviving common law spouse inherits under Colorado's intestacy statutes (C.R.S. section 15-11-102) just as a ceremonially married surviving spouse would.
• Spousal privilege: A common law spouse holds the same evidentiary privilege not to testify against the other spouse.
• Wrongful-death standing: A common law spouse may bring a wrongful-death claim under C.R.S. section 13-21-202.
• Health-care decisions: A common law spouse may serve as a surrogate decision-maker under Colorado's Medical Treatment Decision Act.
• Dissolution only by divorce: A common law marriage ends only through a formal dissolution or divorce proceeding under the Colorado Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act. The couple cannot simply agree to end the marriage by deciding they are no longer married. If the parties separate and then one attempts to marry someone else, the earlier common law marriage must first be legally dissolved.

Does Colorado recognize an out-of-state common law marriage?

Yes, subject to one statutory limit. The rule is statutory rather than constitutional. C.R.S. section 14-2-112 provides that all marriages contracted outside Colorado that were valid at the time of the contract, or that were subsequently validated by the laws of the place in which they were contracted or by the domicile of the parties, are valid in this state. That codifies the traditional place-of-celebration conflict-of-laws rule. If a couple formed a valid common law marriage in Texas, Iowa, or another state that recognized common law marriage, Colorado courts will generally treat that marriage as valid even if the couple later moves to Colorado.

The limit comes from the common law marriage statute itself. C.R.S. section 14-2-109.5(2) provides that, notwithstanding section 14-2-112, a common law marriage contracted within or outside Colorado on or after September 1, 2006 that does not satisfy the requirements of subsection (1) is not recognized as valid in this state. So a common law marriage formed in another state on or after September 1, 2006 is not recognized in Colorado if either party was under 18 when it was formed, or if the marriage was prohibited under C.R.S. section 14-2-110, even though it was valid where it was formed.

This rule is important for couples who may have formed a common law marriage in a now-abolishing state before that state's cutoff date. For example, a couple that formed a valid common law marriage in Pennsylvania before January 1, 2005 (Pennsylvania's abolition date) retains a recognized marriage in Colorado.

Conversely, a couple that lived their entire relationship in a state that never recognized common law marriage cannot retroactively claim a Colorado common law marriage simply by moving to Colorado.

How does a Colorado common law marriage end?

A Colorado common law marriage ends in one way only: formal dissolution (divorce) under the Colorado Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act (C.R.S. section 14-10-106 et seq.). The process is identical to dissolving a ceremonial marriage. The parties file a petition for dissolution of marriage in Colorado district court, provided one spouse has been domiciled in the state for at least 91 days before the petition is filed (C.R.S. section 14-10-106(1)(a)(I)).

Colorado is a no-fault dissolution state. Neither party needs to prove wrongdoing; the only ground for dissolution is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" (C.R.S. section 14-10-110).

There is no such thing as a "common law divorce" or a way to informally dissolve a common law marriage by simply agreeing to separate, ceasing cohabitation, or beginning a new relationship. Until a court enters a decree of dissolution, the common law marriage legally continues. A party who enters a subsequent ceremonial marriage without first dissolving a prior common law marriage commits bigamy under C.R.S. section 18-6-201.

For the legal and financial consequences of dissolution, see our guide to Colorado alimony laws and Colorado child support laws.

For a state-by-state comparison of where common law marriage is and is not recognized, see Common law marriage by state.

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Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Colorado common law marriage for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a common law marriage was formed in any particular situation is a highly fact-specific question. If you are involved in a dissolution, probate, benefits dispute, or any other proceeding in which a common law marriage may be relevant, consult a licensed Colorado family law attorney for guidance on your individual circumstances. Information last verified on June 2, 2026.

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Last updated: June 2, 2026.

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