Editing Common-law marriage (section)

=== India ===
{{See also|Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005}}

In the case of ''D. Velusamy v D. Patchaiammal'' (2010), the [[Supreme Court of India]] defined, with reference to the Domestic Violence Act of 2005, "a relationship in the nature of marriage" as "akin to a common law marriage". The Supreme Court declared that the following are required to satisfy the conditions for a common-law marriage or a relationship in the nature of marriage:

# Must be of [[marriageable age]].
# Must not be already married and is qualified to marry.
# Must be living together in a way that seems to society that the couple is married
# Must have cohabited for a "significant" period of time.
# Must be living together voluntarily.

There is no specified time for the common-law marriage to actually take effect but needs it to be "significant". The case clarified that there was a difference between "live-in relationships", "a relationship in the nature of marriage", casual relationships and having a "keep". Only "a relationship in the nature of marriage" can afford the rights and protections conferred in the Domestics Violence Act of 2005 and Section 125 of the Criminal Code, which include [[alimony]] for the female partner (unless she leaves her partner for no reason, had an affair with another man, or left with a mutual understanding, in which case alimony amounts must be settled mutually too), allowances, shelter and protections for the female partner in case of abuse, right to live in her partner's house and child custody. Furthermore, children born in such relationships will be granted allowances until they reach full age and, provided the person is not a married adult daughter, if the person is of full age and is handicapped. Furthermore, the [[The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955|Hindu Marriage Act]] stipulates that [[Illegitimate children|children born out of wedlock]] (including to live-in relationships, relationships in the nature of marriage and casual relationships) are treated as equivalent to legitimate children in terms of inheritance.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/132607/want-to-get-into-a-live-in-relationship-here-are-the-rights-you-need-to-know/|title=Want to Get Into a Live-In Relationship? Here Are the Rights You Need to Know|date=2018-03-03|website=The Better India|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-10}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1521881/|title=D. Velusamy vs D. Patchaiammal on 21 October, 2010|website=indiankanoon.org|access-date=2019-07-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cja.gov.in/All%20Judgments/Relationship%20in%20nature%20of%20Marriage.pdf|title=Relationship in nature of Marriage|access-date=10 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.icrw.org/files/images/Reducing-HIV-Stigma-and-Gender-Based-Violence-Toolkit-for-Health-Care-Providers-in-India-Annex-4.pdf|title=Overview of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005|access-date=10 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1056396/|title=Section 125 in The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973|website=indiankanoon.org|access-date=2019-07-10}}</ref> However, the Hindu Marriage Act is only applicable if the children's parent is Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://highcourtchd.gov.in/hclscc/subpages/pdf_files/4.pdf|title=Hindu Marriage Act|access-date=10 July 2019}}</ref>