My girlfriend has filed a law suit against me claiming common law marriage since we are separating. She and I lived together for a number of years but it was only in Octboer 2006 that we file a joint tax return for the fiscal year of 2005, prior to that there is no evidence of common law marriage since everything was separate before that.
She went this year behind my back and file her 2007 tax return and file as single head of household, to claim our daughter as dependent and keep the full refund. Last year she worked part time snd she made $11000 while I made $120,000, our monthly expenses were about $5000.
But my question is, when we go to court since I am claimming no marriage exist, will the judge rule that her tax return of 2007 in which she declares herself single will negate whatever
common law marriage that could have been established on the 2006 joint tax return??

Thanks for your hep.

I think a lot will depend on the actual "number of years" your referring to... As far as I know, a common law marriage takes effect after a couple shares the same household for a period no less then seven years... This may vary from state, so depending on how long you were together and if the seven year rule applies, she will likely need to prove a live-in relationship for at least that period, which in my opinion, may require more than just a year or so tax returns... But you also mention a child. If the childs age exceeds the term required for common law marriage, she may not need to prove much more than that, live-in or not...

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