Common Law Marriage in West Virginia: Is It Recognized? (2026)

West Virginia does not recognize common law marriage formed within the state. W. Va. Code section 48-2-101 requires a marriage license for every marriage solemnized in West Virginia, and an unlicensed marriage is void. West Virginia does, however, give full legal effect to a common law marriage validly formed in another state.

Information last verified on June 2, 2026.

Does West Virginia recognize common law marriage?

West Virginia does not allow couples to form a common law marriage within the state. W. Va. Code section 48-2-101 requires that every marriage in West Virginia be solemnized by an authorized officiant and that a valid marriage license be obtained before the ceremony. Under W. Va. Code section 48-2-302, any marriage contracted without a license is void, not merely voidable. This means that a couple living together in West Virginia, presenting themselves publicly as married, and never obtaining a license has not formed a legally recognized marriage regardless of how long they cohabit or how consistently they hold themselves out as a married couple.

West Virginia has maintained this rule throughout its history as a state. Unlike Alabama or Pennsylvania, which once recognized common law marriage and later abolished it, West Virginia never enacted a statute permitting informal marriage formation. Because no such rule ever existed in West Virginia, there is no grandfather cutoff date. A couple cannot point to any period in West Virginia history during which they could have formed a valid common law marriage within the state.

Why West Virginia has never recognized common law marriage formation

West Virginia is one of a majority of states that has always required a formal marriage license and ceremony. The legislature treated the licensing requirement as the foundation of marriage recognition rather than an optional formality. The statutory scheme under Chapter 48 of the West Virginia Code makes clear that a license is a prerequisite, not a procedural nicety.

W. Va. Code section 48-2-101 establishes the licensing requirement for all marriages performed in the state. W. Va. Code section 48-2-302 provides that a marriage entered into without a license is void. A void marriage is treated as though it never existed; no court order is required to render it invalid, although parties often seek a judicial declaration of invalidity for practical reasons such as clearing title to property or resolving benefit eligibility.

Because West Virginia never recognized common law marriage formation, there is no equivalent of the grandfather rules that apply in states such as Alabama, where marriages formed before January 1, 2017, remain valid, or Pennsylvania, where marriages formed before January 1, 2005, remain valid. In West Virginia, a claim of a common law marriage formed within the state has no legal foundation regardless of when the relationship began.

Does West Virginia recognize a common law marriage from another state?

Yes. West Virginia gives full legal effect to a common law marriage that was validly formed in a state that permits such marriages. This recognition flows from two sources: the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution, which requires each state to honor the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state, and the common law principle of comity, under which courts recognize legal relationships validly created in another jurisdiction.

Practically, this means that a couple who formed a valid common law marriage in Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Rhode Island, or the District of Columbia, and who later moved to West Virginia, retains full marital status in West Virginia. West Virginia courts and government agencies treat the couple as legally married for purposes of divorce, property division, spousal support, inheritance rights, health benefits, and all other legal incidents of marriage.

To invoke West Virginia recognition, the party asserting the marriage must show that it was valid under the law of the state where it was formed. A couple claiming a Texas informal marriage, for example, must demonstrate that they met the requirements of Texas Family Code section 2.401, including a present agreement to be married, cohabitation in Texas, and representation to others that they were married.

How to prove a common law marriage formed in another state

Because a common law marriage is formed without a license or official certificate, the party asserting the marriage bears the burden of proof. The standard and specific elements vary by the state where the marriage was formed, but courts in West Virginia evaluating a claimed out-of-state common law marriage typically review the same categories of evidence.

Evidence courts commonly consider includes:

• Joint federal and state income tax returns filed as married filing jointly or married filing separately
• Joint bank accounts, mortgage documents, lease agreements, or jointly titled real property
• Insurance policies listing the other party as a spouse or dependent
• Statements on government forms, loan applications, or credit applications identifying the relationship as a marriage
• Testimony from family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, or clergy who knew the couple as a married pair
• Written correspondence, emails, social media posts, or other records in which the parties referred to each other as husband, wife, or spouse
• Shared surname or documented use of the other partner's last name
• Affidavits signed by both parties acknowledging the marriage

No single item is conclusive. Courts assess the totality of the relationship to determine whether the parties genuinely agreed to be married and held themselves out accordingly, as required by the law of the state where the marriage was allegedly formed.

The 7-year myth

A persistent misconception holds that living together for seven years automatically creates a common law marriage. This is false in every state in the United States. No state, including the states that still allow common law marriage formation, sets a minimum number of years of cohabitation as a requirement or as an automatic trigger for marital status.

In the states that do permit common law marriage, the requirements focus on intent and conduct: a mutual present agreement to be married, cohabitation, and public representation as a married couple. Duration of cohabitation may serve as circumstantial evidence of intent, but no threshold number of years creates a marriage by itself.

In West Virginia, this point is especially clear because the state does not recognize common law marriage formation at all. No period of cohabitation, whether two years or twenty years, creates a marriage in West Virginia without a license and a proper ceremony.

How a common law marriage ends

A valid common law marriage, wherever it was formed, can only be terminated by a formal legal divorce or the death of a spouse. There is no such thing as a common law divorce or an informal dissolution of a marriage. Walking away from the relationship, separating households, or no longer presenting as a married couple does not end a legal marriage.

This rule has significant practical implications. A person who entered a valid common law marriage in Colorado and later moved to West Virginia is still legally married under West Virginia law even if the couple has separated informally. If that person later attempts to marry a new partner in West Virginia, the second marriage would be void because the first valid marriage subsists.

Divorce proceedings to dissolve a common law marriage validly formed in another state proceed under West Virginia law in the same manner as a divorce from a ceremonially solemnized marriage. West Virginia courts apply the same equitable distribution standards, the same spousal support guidelines, and the same jurisdictional and procedural requirements that govern any West Virginia dissolution action.

For context on related financial matters, see West Virginia alimony laws and West Virginia child support laws.

For a state-by-state comparison of which jurisdictions recognize common law marriage, see Common law marriage by state.

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Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about common law marriage recognition in West Virginia and is not legal advice. Marriage and family law determinations are fact-specific and depend on individual circumstances, including the law of the state where any claimed common law marriage was formed. This information was verified as of June 2, 2026. Consult a licensed West Virginia family law attorney for advice about your specific situation.

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Sources

• West Virginia Code section 48-2-101, Marriage license required. West Virginia Legislature. wvlegislature.gov
• West Virginia Code section 48-2-302, Marriage without license void. West Virginia Legislature. wvlegislature.gov
• U.S. Constitution, Article IV, section 1 (Full Faith and Credit Clause). Cornell Legal Information Institute. law.cornell.edu
• Texas Family Code section 2.401, Informal Marriage. Texas Legislature. statutes.capitol.texas.gov
• Colorado Revised Statutes section 14-2-109.5, Common law marriages. Colorado General Assembly. leg.colorado.gov

Last updated: June 2, 2026.