Common Law Marriage and Why Some US birth and Marriage Records May Not Exist

Join us for our April meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County.  Event is open to the public.  12:00 – 1:00 Refreshments, 1:00 pm Presentation

Program:  Common law marriage – recognized marriage without civil registration – has existed since the founding of our Republic. It is still legal today in 9 states and D.C. This presentation will briefly cover the laws in each state, including what common law marriage is, when it arises (no-7 years is a myth), recognition of common law marriage by states not allowing it in that state, and where the laws have changed. We’ll also explore techniques for finding if a common law marriage may have existed for some of our ancestors and how our ancestors may have needed to prove that it existed.

There will also be a review of birth, marriage and death records in general and when states and cities started to require them to be recorded.

Speaker:  Allan Huss is the current President of the JGSPBC.