De Facto Marriage

A cohabitation arrangement between a romantic couple. The term “de facto marriage” is primarily used in Arizona family law in connection with spousal maintenance. As spousal maintenance terminates when the recipient spouse gets remarried, several paying spouses have argued that the recipient’s cohabitation should count as a de facto marriage. The Arizona Court of Appeals has rejected this argument. Van Dyke v. Steinle, 183 Ariz. 268, 274 (App. 1995); Smith v. Mangum, 155 Ariz. 448, 450 (App. 1987)