common-law
Recognized without ceremony
Common-law describes legal arrangements recognized through long-standing custom or judicial precedent rather than written statutes.
A common-law marriage is one established by cohabitation and mutual agreement rather than formal ceremony—still legally valid in some jurisdictions.
Common-law rights derive from court decisions accumulated over time.
The term often modifies spouse or partner: my common-law husband.
Prior authoritative example
- case lawJudge-made legal doctrine
- jurisprudencePhilosophy governing legal systems
- judicialOf courts and judges
- adjudicationFormal decision on disputes
court ruling · binding · judge-made · English law · Blackstone · equity · bench · tribunal
Residing at work
- partnershipShared business arrangement
- domesticOf the home
- unmarriedNot legally wed
- cohabitationDwelling together unmarried
conjugal · relationship · long-term · de facto · spousal · household · family · interdependent
Charter curbing royal authority
- English lawBritain's judicial system
- BlackstoneJurist's surname, now corporate
- Norman ConquestFrench duke's English takeover
- feudalismLand-for-service social structure
medieval · Saxon · charters · colonial · British Empire · Westminster · Inns of Court · Year Books
Joining into one
- nonceremonialWithout formal ritual
- informalRelaxed, not official
- unregisteredNot formally recorded
- putativeAssumed to be true
recognized · cohabiting · spousal rights · legal recognition · dissolution · bigamy · legitimacy · inheritance
Suggested without stating
- tacitUnderstood without words
- informalRelaxed, not official
- understoodGrasped the meaning
- unofficialNot formally recognized
unstated · uncodified · implicit · traditional · customary · judge-made · evolved · organic
precedent
Prior authoritative example
- case lawJudge-made legal doctrine
- jurisprudencePhilosophy governing legal systems
- judicialOf courts and judges
adjudication · court ruling · binding · judge-made · English law · Blackstone · equity · bench · tribunal · appellate
live-in
Residing at work
- partnershipShared business arrangement
- domesticOf the home
- unmarriedNot legally wed
cohabitation · conjugal · relationship · long-term · de facto · spousal · household · family · interdependent · romantic
Magna Carta
Charter curbing royal authority
- English lawBritain's judicial system
- BlackstoneJurist's surname, now corporate
- Norman ConquestFrench duke's English takeover
feudalism · medieval · Saxon · charters · colonial · British Empire · Westminster · Inns of Court · Year Books · assizes
union
Joining into one
- nonceremonialWithout formal ritual
- informalRelaxed, not official
- unregisteredNot formally recorded
putative · recognized · cohabiting · spousal rights · legal recognition · dissolution · bigamy · legitimacy · inheritance · next of kin
implied
Suggested without stating
- tacitUnderstood without words
- informalRelaxed, not official
- understoodGrasped the meaning
unofficial · unstated · uncodified · implicit · traditional · customary · judge-made · evolved · organic · flexible
- relationship statussingle, married, divorced, engaged, separated
- cohabitationcohabitation, cohabiting, cohabitants, cohabiting couple, living together
- demographicspopulation density, population growth, age distribution, population, gender ratio
- romancelove story, amor, love, boyfriend, courting
- family structuresnuclear family, extended family, blended family, stepfamily, single parent
- family lawchild custody, child support, alimony, family court, divorce petitions
common-lawcivil law
Law governing private disputes
Roman law · statutory law · religious law · Napoleonic Code · canon law
common-lawmarried
Joined in matrimony
registered · civil union · licensed · solemnized · sacramental