Arizona common law marriage does not exist as something you can create inside the state, and it never has. No matter how long you and your partner live together, share bills, raise children, or call each other husband or wife, Arizona will not treat you as legally married unless you obtained a marriage license and had the marriage solemnized by an authorized officiant. The one wrinkle: if you validly formed a common law marriage in a state that allows them before moving here, Arizona will recognize it.
Arizona Never Allowed Common Law Marriage To Begin With
People searching for when Arizona “stopped” recognizing common law marriage are starting from a false premise. There is no repeal date because there was never a time Arizona allowed couples inside its borders to become married simply by agreement and cohabitation. Arizona Revised Statutes § 25-111 has long required a license and a ceremony for a valid marriage.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-111 – Requirement of License and Solemnization; Covenant Marriages
The Arizona Department of Economic Security states the rule in one line: Arizona does not recognize the common law marriage of cohabitants in the state.2Arizona Department of Economic Security. Common Law Marriages Twenty years together, joint tax returns, a shared mortgage, and introducing each other as spouses at every holiday party add up to a long relationship. They do not add up to a marriage under Arizona law.
What Actually Makes a Marriage Legal in Arizona
Because the informal route is closed, the only way to be married inside Arizona is to follow the formal process.
Get a Marriage License
Both partners have to appear in person at the Clerk of the Superior Court in any Arizona county. Each person brings a valid government-issued photo ID.3Maricopa County Clerk of Superior Court. Marriage Licenses Fees run roughly $72 to $83 depending on the county. Once issued, the license is good for 12 months, and the ceremony has to happen inside that window.4AZ Court Help. Obtaining a Marriage License
Have the Marriage Solemnized
Arizona requires a ceremony performed by an authorized officiant. That category is wider than many couples assume and includes licensed or ordained clergy and others authorized by their religious organization, judges of courts of record, municipal court judges, justices of the peace, and various federal judges including U.S. Supreme Court justices, federal appellate and district judges, bankruptcy and tax court judges, and U.S. magistrate judges. After the ceremony, the officiant, both spouses, and two witnesses sign the license, and the officiant returns the signed license to the Clerk of the Superior Court for recording.5Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-125 – Marriage Ceremony; Official; Witnesses
Skip any step, and you are not married under Arizona law. There is no fallback status for couples who completed most of the process or who lived as if they had.
Common Law Marriages From Other States Are Recognized Here
Arizona does not create common law marriages, but it does honor them when they were validly formed somewhere that allows them. Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 25-112, a marriage that was valid under the laws of the place where it was contracted is valid in Arizona, unless it falls into a category Arizona specifically voids. Common law marriage is not on that prohibited list.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-112 – Marriages Contracted in Another State; Validity
So a couple who established a common law marriage in Colorado or Texas and then relocated to Phoenix is treated as legally married for every purpose that flows from marital status: community property, spousal support, inheritance, medical decision-making, the works. If that marriage later ends, dissolution happens through the ordinary Arizona divorce process. There is no shortcut just because the marriage began without a ceremony.
There is one anti-evasion catch. Arizona residents cannot sidestep the state’s licensing and ceremony requirements by crossing into a common law state, going through the motions of forming a common law marriage, and then coming home expecting recognition.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-112 – Marriages Contracted in Another State; Validity
Which States Can You Have Come From?
Only a handful of states still permit new common law marriages: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, with Rhode Island and Oklahoma recognizing them through case law. New Hampshire recognizes them only for inheritance purposes after one partner has died.7National Conference of State Legislatures. Common Law Marriage by State Each has its own standards, but most require that both parties were at least 18, mutually agreed to be married, lived together, and publicly held themselves out as spouses. Living under the same roof, by itself, is not enough in any of them.
Federal agencies make their own calls on recognition. The IRS, Social Security Administration, and USCIS will each generally honor a common law marriage that was valid in the state where it formed, which matters for joint tax filing, survivor benefits, and immigration status.8Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2013-179Social Security Administration. Evidence of Common-Law Marriage10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Marriage and Marital Union for Naturalization
Proving an Out-of-State Common Law Marriage
Common law marriages come without a certificate, so when you need Arizona courts or a federal agency to recognize yours, you have to prove it. Start collecting documentation well before any crisis forces the question. Helpful evidence includes:
- Joint financial records: shared bank accounts, mortgages, insurance policies listing both of you
- Jointly filed federal or state tax returns
- Shared residency proof: utility bills, leases, or deeds in both names
- Statements from friends, neighbors, family, or coworkers confirming you held yourselves out as married
- Birth certificates listing both of you as parents
One category rarely carries the day. Several together build a convincing picture. The Social Security Administration, for example, asks for specific supporting documents and typically statements from two of the deceased spouse’s blood relatives, with substitutes allowed when relatives cannot be reached.9Social Security Administration. Evidence of Common-Law Marriage
What Unmarried Couples in Arizona Should Do Instead
If you live with a partner in Arizona and the two of you are not formally married, the law treats you as legal strangers. No community property division if you separate. No automatic inheritance if one of you dies without a will. No default authority to make medical or financial decisions for each other. Long-term couples often discover this at exactly the wrong moment, after an accident or a death.
A few deliberate steps close most of the gap:
- A cohabitation agreement. Arizona honors these contracts, which let partners set out who owns what, how expenses are shared, and what happens to property if the relationship ends. Without one, each partner is presumed to individually own whatever sits in their name alone.
- A medical power of attorney. This document names your partner as the person who can make healthcare decisions for you if you cannot. Without it, that authority falls to blood relatives or a court-appointed guardian.
- A financial power of attorney, which does the same for bank accounts, bills, and other money matters.
- A will, along with updated beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies. Beneficiary designations usually override a will, so both need attention.
None of these require marriage. All of them require you to actually sit down and sign the paperwork. Doing so is the closest an unmarried couple in Arizona can get to the automatic protections marriage would otherwise provide.