| The general rule seems to be that one person has to have
significantly more money than the other partner.
My understanding of the Boggs case is that she is claiming he
reneged on an oral contract to help support her for the times she
wasn't working and could have been.
This is somewhat different from the usual palimony case, in which
the partner with less money is claiming that the relationship was
de facto enough of a marriage to entitle him or her to the same
property rights a spouse would have had. In a very real sense,
it's only an extension of existing laws and traditions about
common-law marriage.
--bonnie
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| RE: .1
Bonnie, in the Boggs case, $6 million is a lot of work that she
(Margo Adams) had to forgo. It's safe to assume she doesn't work
for DEC. :-)
"Legal" marriage is clearly defined. A couple enters into a
formal "contract". And to dissolve that contract through divorce,
alimony (a whole issue unto itself) may be awarded, and/or the marital
assets must be divided per some very arcane formulae.
True, in many (most ) states, common law marriages are recognized,
but only after a significant period of time - perhaps, after 4 to 7
years of cohabitating.
However, I'm not sure that there is any clearly-defined period of
time that qualifies a person to receive palimony. (Shit, if it's
more than three weeks, I could be in a *lot* of trouble). :-)
Alan
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| re: .2
Well, whether she's entitled to any money (the oral contract part)
and how much money she's entitled to (the $6 million part) are
separate legal issues. She probably figured the amount the same
way DEC does budgeting: Guess how much money's available, double
it, and add zeros until it looks good. :)
Your explanation of marriage and common-law marriage is right; you
may notice that there are large categories of interpersonal
relationships that aren't covered by any of those existing rules
or traditions. This is the ground 'palimony' is trying to define.
On the whole the issues of palimony don't interest me a whole lot,
except as a study in how far the law lags behind social custom.
What I really want to know is, why hasn't Mrs. Boggs filed for
divorce yet? Or did she and I missed it?
--bonnie
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