What Are My Rights?

The question most frequently asked of a “palimony” lawyer is:  “what are my rights?” 

Domestic Partner Law

“Palimony” is a coined word, meaning “alimony” for a pal.  The term is somewhat misleading, however, because while a spouse in California has an automatic right to spousal support and community property, an unmarried cohabitant has no similar automatic rights.

Whether you, as an unmarried cohabitant, have a right to support or property-sharing depends entirely on the unique facts of your situation. Marvin or "palimony" type cases live or die based on the facts and the plaintiff’s ability to prove those facts based on testimony and documents. 

Whether you have a claim against your former partner for support or property sharing depends on what your expectations were, and on the basis for those expectations. For example:

• If you expected to share property or to be supported based on promises made by your partner or discussions you had with your partner, you may have a claim.
   
• If you expected to share property or to be supported because you and your partner lived like a married couple, held joint accounts together, planned your financial future together, and otherwise acted as if you were married, you may have a claim.
   
• If you never expected to share in property, or that you would be entitled to support even if the relationship broke up, then you don't have a claim.

If you and your partner have a child together, your rights to child support and custody are the same as if you were married. You should talk to a family law attorney about child support and custody issues. (Jared Laskin is not a family law attorney and does not handle these types of issues.)

Clearing up some Myths

There are certain myths that many people believe about living together that just aren't true. Here are some things you should know:

1.  There is no such thing as “common law” marriage in California and most other states. You never become legally married just from living together for a long time.
           
2. Unmarried cohabitants have no automatic right to support or property merely by virtue of having lived together, no matter how long they live together. There is no magic number of years together (seven years seems to be popular) that gives rise to a palimony claim.

3. You cannot sue an ex-fiance for breaking an engagement. (Accordingly, if all of your expectations were based on being married in the future, you can't sue for enforcement of those expecations.)

TYPICAL CLAIMS IN A MARVIN CASE

The following are the types of claims most commonly brought by one unmarried partner against another: 

1.  Breach of oral agreement.  If the parties had an oral agreement for sharing property or for one party to support the other, that agreement may be enforceable.  An agreement is not just a naked promise by one person to the other.  Both parties must have agreed to do something, and the party who is suing on the agreement must have lived up to his or her side of the bargain.

2.  Breach of implied agreement.  An “implied” agreement is one where both parties have agreed to something, but not in words.  Instead, the terms of the agreement can be gleaned from the parties’ conduct.  For example, if two people open a joint account and contribute to it from time to time in unequal amounts, it might be implied that they have agreed to own those funds equally even though they did not contribute equal shares.  Note that the mere fact that one party supported the other during the relationship probably does not imply that the supporting party intended to keep paying support even when the relationship broke up.

3.  “Promissory Estoppel.”  "Promissory Estoppel" means that if you relied on a promise, you may be able to have that promise enforced at least to some extent. For example, if a man tells a woman:  “quit your high-paying job and come live with me and I’ll support you for the rest of your life,” and the woman does quit her job, she may be entitled to some level of support after the relationship breaks up. The judge would only enforce the promise to the extent necessary to "prevent injustice."

4.  “Quantum Meruit”  Under the doctrine of quantum meruit, if a person performs valuable services for another with the expectation that he will be compensated, he is entitled to the reasonable value of those services.  In the context of a domestic relationship such services could include housework, secretarial type services, being a social escort, helping to entertain business associates, helping to decorate or remodel a home, etc.  Note that you will be able to recover only if the value of your services is more than the value of any support you have already received. 

If you think you may have a “palimony” claim, you should act promptly, since you will want to pursue the claim before the statute of limitations runs out.  You should contact a lawyer, preferably one with significant experience in “palimony” claims.  The lawyer will want to know all of the relevant facts, including:

1.  Dates of meeting and breaking up.

2.  Places lived together and the dates you lived together.

3.  How finances were handled throughout the relationship, including any changes and the dates the changes occurred.

4.  All property acquired during the relationship and the dates of acquisition, the purchase price, the current value and the current equity.  If title was taken solely in the name of your partner, what discussions were held about that?

5.  All services you performed, in detail.  What did you do?  How many hours did you spend?  Did you expect to be compensated in some way?  What discussions were there about that? 

6.  All contributions you made to the acquisition or improvement of real property.  This could include financial contributions or contributions of labor.

7.  All discussions and promises relating to sharing of property.  On what date(s) did they take place?  What was said by whom?  What was the context of the conversation?  Does anyone else know of these discussions?

8.  All discussions and promises relating to financial support.  On what date(s) did they take place?  What was said by whom?  What was the context of the conversation?  Does anyone else know of these discussions?

9.  All actions taken by you in reliance on any promises and the dates you took such actions.

10.  What were your expectations with regard to property?  What were those expectations based on?  Did your partner share those same expectations?  What facts show that your partner shared your expectations?

11.  What were your expectations, if any, with regard to financial support? What were those expectations based on?  Did your partner share those same expectations?  What facts show that your partner shared your expectations?