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"Common-law marriages are about to become a thing of the past in Alabama.Gov. Robert Bentley recently signed a bill making it illegal for couples to enter common-law marriages starting in 2017.\"You won't be able to just determine between the two of you that you are married,\" attorney Brian Huff said.All common-law marriages established before 2017 will still count.What exactly does it mean to be common-law married?\"There is no time frame within which you have to live together to be common-law married,\" Huff said.Contrary to popular belief, a couple is not common-law married just because they've lived together for a long time. Huff said there are three criteria. Both parties have to have the capacity to be married, meaning they can't already be married; evidence of intention to be married has to exist, like filing taxes jointly; and the marriage has to have been consummated.\"You could theoretically become common-law married\u00A0within one day,\" Huff said.Starting\u00A0Jan. 1, 2017, couples who want Alabama to legally recognize their marriages will have to come to one of the courthouses to get a marriage certificate.Huff said Alabama is one of the last states that recognize common-law marriages."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wvtm13.com/article/alabama-to-end-common-law-marriage/3836335>