This post is specifically for those who did not, in fact, “put a ring on it” whilst they were alive…but for all intents and purposes ‘shipped like they did. (‘Shipped= what the cool kids are calling ‘being in a relationship.’ In this article it means “behaving like you’re married”…we are so lit ;-)) 

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Let’s start with the why, shall we? Why would one even care about getting a couple declared married after one partner has died? Whelp, usually it has to do with money. There are certain rights in the law reserved for spouses, and so it is sometimes advantageous to have a relationship declared a marriage after the death of a “spouse,” in order to qualify for or claim said benefits/rights. 

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How does one do this? Well, it most definitely involves lawyers and a showing to the Court of the following: 

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• Are the parties of legal age, and capable of giving consent? 
• Are the parties legally qualified to enter into a solemnized marriage (For example, you can’t marry too close a relation i.e. a first cousin, a sibling, etc)?
• Have the parties lived together? 
• Did they treat each other as though they were married? 
• Did they present themselves to the public in such a way that people believed or could believe they were married? 

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Additionally, the paperwork for the judicial recognition of marriage needs to happen within a certain time frame, namely: 

• During the relationship, or
• Within one year following the end of the relationship (one or both partners have died or the partners have separated).* 

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*As you can tell from the time frame, this action isn’t solely limited to an after death situation, but that is the only situation we are going to talk about here. 

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When would this become pertinent? 

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I will give you two examples. 

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Example A: John and Mary were a couple, they lived together, shared bank accounts, signed their apartment lease together, and everyone knew they were an item. They had talked about getting married, but they hadn’t yet gotten engaged.  After the couple had been together for about a year, John was killed in a tragic accident at work. Because, in this situation, worker’s compensation benefits are available only to a spouse, Mary could only receive these if she was legally declared John’s spouse.

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Example B: Bob and Sally were a couple. They lived together for 5 years prior to Bob dying. They bought their house jointly and held a joint bank account. They came to family events together. Bob and Sally both had children from prior marriages. Bob and Sally hadn’t done any joint estate planning and had never gotten married. When Bob died, Sally inherited all of the jointly held property, but Bob also owned a lot of property that was only in his name. In order for Sally to have any claim to this property, she would need to be declared his spouse. If she was, then she could take an elective share (this is what it is called in Utah) of the assets held in just his name.

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The actual way this would play out is quite specific to the situation, and there is an algorithm involved. I encourage everyone, but especially those in a second marriage or second long term relationship, where there are shared assets and kids from prior relationships, to get good estate planning in place. It can be very messy and hurtful for all parties involved if it has to be worked through after a partner has died. 

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If you have more questions or comments, please reach out! 

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