Jack and Mia lived together in Lansing, Michigan for 12 years. During that time, Jack and Mia had a joint bank account and put both their names on their car and the lease of their apartment. During this time, they referred to each other as “my wife” and “my husband” although they never formally married.
At the end of this period, Mia and Jack moved to Syracuse, New York. Unfortunately, three weeks later, Mia was hit by a truck and killed. Neither party had a Will.
Jack petitions the Surrogate’s court to be treated as Mia’s husband for purposes of dividing her estate and to be named Administrator of her estate. Mia’s family counters that they should receive all of Mia’s property (that was not jointly owned with Jack) since Mia and Jack were not married. Jack argues that they were “common law” spouses because of the way they lived together in Lansing.
Assume that Michigan does recognize common law marriages, while New York does not. Assume further that Jack and Mia’s common law marriage was valid under Michigan law.
The question is:
Must the New York Surrogate’s court recognize Jack and Mia’s common law marriage in Michigan, even though New York does not recognize common law marriage?
