[wta-politics]AP: Pennsylvania court abolishes common-law marriage

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Pennsylvania court abolishes common-law marriage
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-09-18-common-law_x.htm
Posted 9/18/2003 7:41 PM
   
   PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Tossing aside centuries of tradition, a
   Pennsylvania appeals court abolished common-law marriages, saying it
   is no longer necessary to give longtime live-in couples the benefits
   of marriage without a license.
   
   By a 5-2 vote, the Commonwealth Court said recognizing such unions has
   created an impossible situation for third parties trying to determine
   whether a person is married or single.
   
   "Many sound reasons exist to abandon a system that allows the
   determination of important rights to rest on evidence fraught with
   inconsistencies, ambiguities and vagaries," Judge Bonnie Brigance
   Leadbetter wrote in a decision filed Wednesday.
   
   She added that the circumstances that created a need for common-law
   marriage -- namely, the potential unavailability of a preacher in
   colonial times and the dependence of women on men for support -- have
   dissipated.
   
   Pennsylvania was one of 11 states that continued to recognize
   common-law marriage. Others have done away with them over time.
   
   The ruling, made in the case of a man who sought pension benefits
   after his common-law wife died in a 1994 plane crash, will not affect
   any existing unions, but will bar people from entering into them in
   the future, the court said.
   
   On that basis, the court unanimously found in favor of the plaintiff,
   John Kretz, who argued that he was entitled to the benefits Janet
   Stamos accrued while working at PNC Bank.
   
   Two judges concurred with that finding, but dissented from the section
   of the decision barring future common-law marriages, saying the court
   had usurped the Legislature's authority.
   
   "When the people desire to abolish common-law marriages, they should
   do so through their elected representatives in the legislature," Judge
   Doris A. Smith-Ribner wrote.
   
   In the past, Pennsylvania courts have looked at everything from a
   couple's tax filing status to whether a woman has begun using her
   partner's last name to determine whether a common-law marriage was
   valid.
   
   Kretz said he and Stamos exchanged vows privately in 1989 and later
   signed an affidavit declaring themselves man and wife. On Thursday, he
   said his marriage can't be measured by whether he paid $3 for a state
   license.
   
   "A real marriage is between two people ... and it is just as much a
   state of mind," he said.
   
   Northwestern University School of Law professor Cynthia Grant Bowman,
   whose writings on common-law marriage were cited in the court's
   majority opinion, said she thought the court had done away with an
   important protection for women who have curtailed their education or
   given up a career to be homemakers.
   
   "I'm worried about the rights of women who, just as in a marriage,
   have contributed years of support to a man's career ... and could be
   very vulnerable at the termination of a relationship," she said.
   
   PNC's lawyer, Joseph A. Fricker, said his client has not decided
   whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court. He said common-law
   marriage has posed a tremendous problem for large employers, insurance
   companies and pension fund administrators who have to decide whether a
   someone is a legitimate spouse or a fraud.
   
   "The problem is, nobody will ever know how many common-law marriages
   are real marriages, and how many are not," Fricker said.