Does NZ recognise common law marriage from another country?

NZ recognises marriages validly formed overseas, which in rare cases can include a common law marriage validly created where that doctrine exists. But you cannot form a common law marriage by living together in NZ; here long-term cohabitation creates a de facto relationship instead.

Is a de facto partner the same as a common law spouse?

In everyday speech people use them interchangeably, and for property division the NZ de facto regime does what people imagine common law marriage does. Legally, de facto relationship is the correct NZ term, defined in section 2D of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976.

After three years are we effectively married?

For property between the two of you, close to it: equal sharing generally applies as it would in a marriage. For everything else, no; marriage remains a distinct legal status you enter by ceremony, not by time.

Is there common law marriage in NZ

Updated 2026-08-09. General information, not legal advice.

No, New Zealand does not have common law marriage. The phrase comes from overseas, mostly American film and television, where a few jurisdictions treat a couple as legally married after living together long enough. NZ law never turns cohabitation into marriage. What NZ has instead is the de facto relationship: a defined legal status for couples who live together as a couple, which after about three yearscarries property consequences very similar to marriage, without anyone being "married".

Why the distinction matters

People searching "common law marriage" usually want to know one of two things: whether living together gives their partner rights over their property, or whether it gives them rights over their partner's. In NZ the answer to both is yes, in substance, through the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 rather than through any marriage. Once the Act applies, relationship property is generally shared equally, including the family home whoever owns it.

So the folk idea behind common law marriage, "live together long enough and the law treats you like spouses", is closer to true in NZ than in most places that actually use the phrase. It just has a different name and a statute behind it.

What de facto couples do and do not get

A de facto couple under the Act gets the property-division regime: equal sharing of relationship property after about three years, and the same ability to contract out and choose their own rules. What de facto status does not do is make you married for every purpose: marriage and civil union remain distinct for things like the ceremony-based formalities and some other areas of law. For property between partners, which is what this site is about, the regimes are aligned.

The practical takeaway

If you moved to NZ believing cohabitation is legally weightless without marriage, recalibrate: here it is the opposite. Living together starts a clock, and the right time to decide your property rules is before the clock matters, together, while it is easy. Couples who want the Act's default need to do nothing; couples who want their own rules make a prenup, which in NZ is available to de facto couples exactly as it is to engaged ones.

Common questions

Does NZ recognise common law marriage from another country?: NZ recognises marriages validly formed overseas, which in rare cases can include a common law marriage validly created where that doctrine exists. But you cannot form a common law marriage by living together in NZ; here long-term cohabitation creates a de facto relationship instead.
Is a de facto partner the same as a common law spouse?: In everyday speech people use them interchangeably, and for property division the NZ de facto regime does what people imagine common law marriage does. Legally, de facto relationship is the correct NZ term, defined in section 2D of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976.
After three years are we effectively married?: For property between the two of you, close to it: equal sharing generally applies as it would in a marriage. For everything else, no; marriage remains a distinct legal status you enter by ceremony, not by time.

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Sources

All information published on prenup.nz, including this guide, is general information only and is not to be construed as legal advice. We strongly recommend seeking independent legal advice about your own situation. A contracting out agreement only binds you once each partner has taken independent legal advice and a lawyer has witnessed and certified each signature, as section 21F of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 requires.