In Kansas, common law marriage is valid if three separate conditions are all met: 1) the parties have the ability to get married (normally meaning they are of age and are not already married); 2) the parties intend to be married to each other; and 3) the parties hold themselves out to the public as being husband and wife. If the parties file a "married filing jointly" tax return, then that would satisfy the condition about holding themselves out to the public as being husband and wife, but the first two conditions may not be met. If only the third condition is met, then the parties are not married under common law, but they have filed a false tax return.
Answered on Oct 13th, 2016 at 10:51 AM