Can employer choose to not recognize common law marriage?

[maneki]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

My husband and I live in Colorado and we are common law married. My husband works here in Colorado but his company is saying they don't recognizes our marriage. Recently my mother passed away and when he tried to take the bereavement leave that they offer (which does include in-laws) they said no, that they don't consider us married and so they wouldn't give him that time off.

Is this legal? Can a company choose to not recognize a common law marriage?

(Sorry if this should have gone in a different part of the forum, I didn't know if it should be here or in the employment section.)

 

[adjusterjack]

Is this legal? Can a company choose to not recognize a common law marriage?

Yes. And there's nothing illegal about it.

That's one of the biggest disadvantages of common law marriage. In states where common law marriages are recognized only the governments in that state are obligated to accept that you are married and even government agencies may require you to prove the existence of the marriage before awarding you any government benefits.

Nobody else and no other entities have any obligation to accept your marriage whether you can prove it or not.

I suggest you get yourselves "officially" married like you were discussing in your last post so you don't have problems like this in the future when the financial consequences might be a lot more unpleasant than just the lack of bereavement leave.

https://forum.freeadvice.com/marriage-domestic-partnerships-other-family-law-matters-45/common-law-married-can-we-have-ceremony-now-license-617327.html#post3356683

 

[maneki]

Bah. We are planning on going through with the marriage certificate but were hoping to wait until we were planning the ceremony. Guess we may have to speed that up a bit. I guess I was confused because I used to work for a tax agency and the IRS accepts common law marriages for tax filing purposes if you live in one of those states. Kinda figured that if the IRS acknowledged it then it was pretty official. Oh well. Thanks.

 

[adjusterjack]

Bah. We are planning on going through with the marriage certificate but were hoping to wait until we were planning the ceremony. Guess we may have to speed that up a bit. I guess I was confused because I used to work for a tax agency and the IRS accepts common law marriages for tax filing purposes if you live in one of those states. Kinda figured that if the IRS acknowledged it then it was pretty official. Oh well. Thanks.

The IRS is a government agency and, for the most part, accepts and upholds state laws.

It's also likely that the IRS just accepted your returns just like any other John and Jane Doe married filing jointly which isn't exactly the same as an acknowledgment of the marriage.

I'm sure you just checked the married box and didn't write in common law married.