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ฉบับพิเศษ ประจำ�ปี 2564

Legal Treatment of Unmarried Couples:

A Proposal for Change

การปฏิบัติทางกฎหมายต่อบุคคลที่อยู่กินกัน

โดยไม่ได้จดทะเบียนสมรส: ข้อเสนอเพื่อการเปลี่ยนแปลง

Cynthia Grant Bowman *

Abstract

This article describes the situation of unmarried couples in the United States

and makes recommendations for change in their treatment by the law. Cohabiting couples
have increased dramatically, especially among those who are poor, people of color,

divorced persons, and older Americans in general. The majority of these couples pool
their income and act similarly to married couples with respect to money. Moreover,
54% of them have children in the home, either their biological children or those of their

partner. Cohabitants have few legal rights, either vis-à-vis one another or against third
parties. Only one state (Washington) treats cohabiting couples who resemble married

couples as though they were married for purposes of property distribution upon
separation or death. Although most states recognize contracts between the partners,
both written and oral, such agreements are very hard to prove. As a result, cohabiting

couples face serious legal problems, including, among many others, lack of remedies
for property division and support at the end of their relationships, inheritance
in the absence of a will, unfavorable tax treatment, lack of social security coverage

as spouses, and inability to sue for a variety of torts that depend upon marital relationship.
The article discusses how other countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, France,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand, address many of these problems. Finally, the author

* Dorothea S. Clarke Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
ศาสตราจารย์ด้านกฎหมายแห่งมหาวิทยาลัยคอร์แนล สหรัฐอเมริกา

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