Lindo v Belisario, 1795, 1 Hagg.Con. 216
Citation:Lindo v Belisario, 1795, 1 Hagg.Con. 216
Rule of thumb:Where 2 people have children together & live together is it presumed they are married? In England this raises a very strong presumption of common law marriage.
Judgment:
Marriages can be formed by default without a full formal ceremony having taken place, provided that some requirements are met. The Court held that having children and cohabitating together were 2 important factors the Court would consider in deciding whether a marriage was created informally – the Court held that marriage had to mean more than just a commercial arrangement between 2 people in close partnership – this is a very deep and long-standing tradition in the UK going back centuries, ‘A marriage is not every carnal commerce; nor would it be so even in the law of nature... without the intention of bringing up children or cohabitation... would not constitute marriage’, Lord Stowell
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