Common Law

Common law is a form of case law that is set up by judges to based of court decisions, and precedent. Common law is a legal system that relies on precedent and states that is unfair to rule differently when similar information is given on a different occasion. Common law falls under president law and binds future decisions together. When two sides disagree on what the outcome of a case maybe common law is used to look at past events and take them into account. If a given state has ruled on something prior to the actual trial for another similar case than common law can rely on that state law that was established to win the case. It gets tricky when judging a case based on common law because most of the time a state will have certain procedures for conducting it. Some states may require that the law be established in a similar court setting for the precedent to take affect. For example a precedent set in a appellate court probably will not be honored in a juvenile court. This type of law in any case is opposed to statutory and regulatory law. This law is also opposed to civil law systems, and equity. The only time they can be considered would be in a civil setting. In a situation with common law it is often difficult to determine what the law actually is. However, if one first assess the facts, locates relevant cases, determine the next steps in carrying out this decision in ones favor, and finally figure out what the law is and apply it.

Common law marriage is a non-official version of the union we know as marriage. A couple can be married by common law, but not in the eyes of the regular law. A common law marriage is a status that is recognized in some states as marriage despite the absence of a legal ceremony and documentation. Common law marriage can be legally beneficial in some states and not in others. Additionally, the good thing about common law marriage is that individuals receive benefits as if they were actually married. Common law marriage is not recognized on the books in any state, but may be recorded in other ways. For example, if a couple has lived together in a house for fifteen years and has paid the bills together, raised children, they are entitled to certain common law rights. Even though there exists a common law marriage, there is no such thing as a common law divorce. However, in some states a couple may file a separation request within two years of when a common law marriage took place in order to prove it existed. Common law is unique in that it almost exists on an as need basis. Precedents are set to protect the people that have legal trouble that cannot be clearly defined. Without precedent, there exists no common law, and without this law exist no common law marriage which would make things more difficult.