Local Attorney Michael Robbins Explains Common Law Marriage in Colorado

The legal landscape of turning eighteen hits harder than the driver’s license in your hand. It is the moment the state stops treating you as a dependent and starts treating you as a contract.

That is the hard lead from local attorney Michael Robbins, who continues his six-part series on the legal ramifications of adulthood. He isn’t talking about voting or jury duty here. He is talking about sex, partnership, and the messy, binding reality of marriage.

Robbins, writing for the Vail Daily, notes that while the specifics of Colorado law might shift slightly from state to state, the general principles remain consistent across the majority of the country. When you turn 18, you no longer need parental permission to marry. But marriage, he argues, is not just a party. It is a life-long contract with obligations that can stick to you long after the honeymoon phase fades.

Picture this: you’re standing in a courthouse in Delta County, or maybe just on a trailhead in Eagle County, declaring yourselves married. In most states, you need a ceremonial marriage — before a judge, a justice of the peace, or a religious leader. Colorado, however, offers a shortcut. You can get married by common law. You don’t need a license or a ceremony. You just need to manifest a present intent to be married and hold yourselves out to the public as husband and wife.

It sounds simple. It is not.

The financial implications are where the rubber meets the road. Robbins points out that while some states enforce "community property" laws — where assets earned during the marriage are split 50/50, Colorado is different. We are an "equitable division" state. That means assets are divided fairly, but not necessarily equally. It’s a subtle distinction that can cost you thousands in a divorce settlement.

And then there’s the pre-nup.

A pre-nuptial agreement is a contract you enter into before tying the knot. It dictates your rights and obligations during the marriage and, crucially, in the event of a divorce or death. It can override standard state laws, but it cannot dictate how your children will be treated. You can also do this after the wedding, creating a "post-nuptial" agreement.

If the marriage goes south, most states offer "no-fault" divorce. The only ground you need is "irreconcilable differences." You don’t have to prove your spouse cheated or was negligent. You just have to prove the marriage is broken.

Robbins emphasizes that this column is general in nature. It doesn’t dwell on the granular specifics of Colorado statutes. It’s meant to summarize the common ground. But for locals, that general knowledge is vital. It affects how you view your own property, how you plan for the future, and what you sign when you say "I do."

Not exactly a romantic notion, but it is the law. And ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. It just makes it more expensive when it finally hits you.