Unmarried Cohabitants, Putative Spouses, Domestic Partners Flashcards
What are “Unmarried Cohabitants”?
People who live together and act married but are not legally married
Marvin v. Marvin
Michelle claims that she and Lee had oral agreement to share property acquired during their relationship and that she agreed to give up career and be his companion, homemaker, and cook in exchange for his support for life. Lee claims it was based on sexual services
Holding: Michelle unable to prove claim re agreement
Takeaway: courts don’t like these facts and would prefer that you get married or enter contractual agreement. Difficult to recover under Marvin, if you get to stay home while one partner works, then courts typically find you receive value for your services.
How is property distributed in a nonmarital relationship?
Distributing property acquired during a nonmarital relationship is governed by judicial decision, not Community Property law (meaning case law, not family code)
Nonmarital Contracts
Express Contracts between nonmarital partners will be enforced unless based on paying someone for sex (oral or written contract)
No Express Contracts:
Courts will look at the conduct of the parties to determine if there is an implied-in-fact agreement or partnership or joint venture
Implied-in-Fact Contracts – courts will look at parties’ behavior to see if there was a decision to share property during the relationship
- Was there a Long-Term, Marital-Like Relationship (best case scenario)
- All property accumulated during relationship considered Quasi-Marital Property
- Factors to Consider:
a. Holding self out to be husband and wife
b. Take last name
c. Have home/property together
d. Have children
e. One works one maintains home
f. Joint Decision-making
Maglica v. Maglica
Woman has long term relationship with man, takes his name, they hold themselves out as married, she works in his business and makes significant contributions to its success
Holding: sharing conduct established implied in fact agreement to share property
Equitable Remedies between Unmarried Cohabitants
Quantum Meruit – reasonable value of services rendered, reasonable value of support received
- Services being taking care of kids/home, paying bills
- Support being expenses paid, living in someone else’s home
- If you give services and get support, equitable remedies rarely given
Same sex, nonmarital relationships
All aspects of cohabitants apply the same to same-sex couples
Whorton v. Dillingham
Same sex couple have contract including to act as companion, confidant, travel and social companion, and lover, as well as chauffeur, guard, secretary, and partner in real estate.
Holding: court looks at the job-like roles and partner in real estate part and says this will support an implied in fact contract, with partner in real estate being key because it showed economic partnership as well as social
Defective Marriages
Automatically Void/ Never Valid, No CP rights can arise, and a spouse cannot ratify the marriage:
1. Multiple spouses
2. Not fully divorced a prior spouse before re-marrying
3. Marriage that violates law (e.g., incest)
Voidable
1. Marriages based on fraud or misrepresentation,
- wronged spouse can ratify the marriage and CP rights will arise from the time of marriage, or they may choose to annul
If ratified – marriage becomes valid, property rights attach
If annulled – no property rights arise
Misrepresentation: must be more than something like simple cheating
a. Ex: W pregnant with another mans child, H hiding affair with W’s sibling, one spouse under age of consent or of unsound mind (something akin to a double life)
Putative Spouse Doctrine
Equitable doctrine designed to protect a spouse that believes that he or she actually acquired CP rights
Rule at Death: if the spouse has a good faith belief in the validity of the marriage, that spouse attains putative spouse status and has rights to both quasi-CP and decedent’s SP via right of survivorship
1. Quasi-CP property subject to normal CP rules
Requirements for Putative Spouse Doctrine to Apply
- Void or Voidable Marriage, AND
- Good Faith Belief by at least one party that Marriage Was Valid
What is a “good faith belief” that a marriage was valid?
Look at Totality of circumstances
Did they try to fulfill the requirements of CA law (marriage license, ceremony)?
How believable is the supposed good faith?
1. Personal background and experience
2. Is it reasonable for THIS person, not a reasonable person standard
What happens if the Putative Spouse Doctrine makes them Putative Spouses?
- Get status of putative spouses
- Parties divide property that would have been CP or Quasi CP as if marriage had not been defective
- Doctrine only applies as long as the maintain their good faith belief
- Once belief ends, they are treated as unmarried cohabitants - At Death:
- Putative surviving spouse treated same as surviving spouse
- If someone has a real spouse and a putative spouse, estate is divided equally between them
Domestic Partners
Includes same sex couples or opposite-sex couples where both parties are over 62 and eligible for social security benefits
Pre-2000
1. Unmarried couples treated as unmarried cohabitants, no property rights arise automatically as a result of the marriage
2. Subject to Marvin
1/1/2000 – 6/30/2003
1. Couples allowed to register as domestic partners
- Hospital visitation, shared health insurance
- Must live together
- If acquiring property in joint title, treated like unmarried people who have joint title
2. Still treated as unmarried cohabitants as far as property rights are concerned
7/1/2003 – 12/31/2004
1. Upon death, domestic partners are treated as spouses under the probate code (intestate death)
2. Still no CP rights upon termination of partnership, property bought together goes by title JT or Tenancy in Common
1/1/2005 and Later
1. CA Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibility Act of 2003 effective
2. Domestic partners get same rights as if married
- Subject to CP law at death and at dissolution
- Have access to Putative Spouse doctrine (probably)
