South Carolina General Assembly
118th Session, 2009-2010

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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

S. 426

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senator L. Martin
Document Path: l:\s-jud\bills\l. martin\jud0058.pl.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 3167

Introduced in the Senate on February 17, 2009
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Common law marriage

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   2/17/2009  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-3
   2/17/2009  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-3
   1/20/2010  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee: Campbell (ch), Knotts, 
                        Campsen, Lourie

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

2/17/2009

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 20-1-110 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT COMMON-LAW MARRIAGE IN THE STATE MAY NOT BE RECOGNIZED ON AND AFTER JANUARY 1, 2010, AND TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION FOR A COMMON-LAW MARRIAGE EXISTING AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2009; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 20-1-360 RELATING TO THE VALIDITY OF A MARRIAGE CONTRACTED WITHOUT THE ISSUANCE OF A LICENSE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 1, Title 20 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 20-1-110.        (A)    A common-law marriage in this State must not be recognized after January 1, 2010, unless it is established, by a preponderance of the evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction, that the common law marriage existed as of December 31, 2009.

(B)    Prior to January 1, 2010, the probate court shall waive the marriage license application fee for parties who are in a common-law marriage as attested to in a form affidavit provided to the parties by the probate court."

SECTION    2.    Section 20-1-360 of the 1976 Code is repealed.

SECTION    3.    Except as otherwise provided for in this act, this act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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