• Kansas allows couples to live together outside marriage.Kansas state contour with Capital City against blurred USA flag image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
  
  Some couples continue to live with one another even after they get divorced. While there are generally no laws prohibiting this arrangement in Kansas, the state is one of the few states in the country where common law marriage is still recognized. Cohabitating with an ex-spouse can lead to potential legal problems, especially when running into issues of common law marriage.
  
  

Common Law Marriage

• Cohabitating with someone often leads to questions of common law marriage. While many people think this means that living together for a specific amount of time means you are automatically married, this isn't the case in Kansas. Kansas law requires three elements be met to become married through common law: both parties have a present intent to be married, both parties hold themselves out to the public as married, and both parties meet the minimum age requirements for entering into a marriage. There is no time limit required, and as such, a couple can effectively be married whenever they wish.
  
  

Cohabitation Generally

• Divorced couples who continue to live together or who start living together subsequent to a divorce are free to do so. Kansas no longer outlaws unmarried couples living in the same residence. However, the benefits conferred to married couples do not apply to unmarried couples living together. The right to buy and sell property, raise children and enter into a contract can all be affected by your decision to live together outside marriage. Cohabitating couples may enter into a contractual relation with one another, but a court may or may not recognize the validity of the contract.
  
  

Divorce

• The law of common law marriage does not have an equivalent provision for divorce. Common law marriages must go through the same divorce processes as non-common law marriages do. There is no such thing as common law divorce. So, if a divorced couple lives together and subsequently holds themselves out to the public as remarried and intends to be remarried, they are married. After that, they can't decide that they made a mistake and agree to a common law divorce. In the eyes of the law, they will still be married.