A common-law right.    From Wordnet, Princeton University. 

Adjective : a common-law spouse.    From Dictionary.com. 

They also arrested Ann Murphy, his common-law wife.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 7, 2007] Reference

Ingram's common-law husband knew and so did students.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Aug 25, 2004] Reference

Now, no one disparaging the children or the common-law wife.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 31, 2005] Reference

KING: Well, he can't be common-law married if he's not divorced.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 21, 2005] Reference

He had another family, a common-law wife, basically, and two children.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 31, 2005] Reference

The jurisdiction would not be presumed, as in the case of a common-law.    From Wordnik.com.  [Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject] Reference

He has got another woman, another family, basically, a common-law wife.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 31, 2005] Reference

But frying your own pet goldfish to get back at your common-law husband?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Oct 2, 2009] Reference

Aguirre is string for common-law fraud, but says that it's not an easy fit.    From Wordnik.com.  [Losing Your Right To Sue?] Reference

In a dozen other states, she would have been considered his common-law wife.    From Wordnik.com.  ['Letting Go'] Reference

GRACE: What about the possibility of him being established as a common-law husband?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Feb 26, 2007] Reference

Also under arrest, Ann Murphy, his common-law wife, and another woman, Kimberly Cray.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 7, 2007] Reference

This was a common-law marriage, and he had many other acquaintances with women, right?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jul 1, 2003] Reference

The common people seldom marry except, as we would term it, by the common-law marriage.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Woman's Impression of the Philippines] Reference

A state appeals court has ruled a 15-year-old girl can enter into a common-law marriage.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 16, 2006] Reference

Two people live in the house; they were arrested, a 41-year-old man and his common-law wife.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 6, 2007] Reference

ISAACSON: Well, yes, he had a wonderful partnership with Debra Reed (ph), his common-law wife.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jul 1, 2003] Reference

She separated from her common-law husband in February after getting a restraining order against him.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript May 30, 2007] Reference

MOOS: One thing to have a fish fry, but frying your pet goldfish to get back at your common-law husband?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Oct 2, 2009] Reference

A Colorado court says it could be legal for girls as young as 12, 12, to enter into common-law marriages.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 16, 2006] Reference

Then he had torn himself away to study common-law pleading in the suspicious manner previously described.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 5, June 1905] Reference

MOOS: One thing to have a fish fry, but frying your own pet goldfish to get back at your common-law husband?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Oct 2, 2009] Reference

What the court says is there's no common-law privilege, of course, and we all knew that, but there is a statute.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Dec 15, 2005] Reference

Evelyn Turner cried alongside the body of her common-law husband, Xavier Bowie, in New Orleans on Aug. 30, 2005.    From Wordnik.com.  [Storm Damage: Katrina's Wake] Reference

The British form is different again -- distinguished by its reliance on custom and precedent, its common-law character.    From Wordnik.com.  [Europe's Great Non-Debate] Reference

CALLER: Well, I ` m curious as to whether Mr. Stern can claim to be her common-law husband, and, therefore, her next of kin?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Feb 26, 2007] Reference

She was welcomed into her black common-law husband's family, and her mother-in-law became a real source of love and support.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Aug 11, 2007] Reference

Nevertheless, I would agree that some eighteenth-century writers saw claims of common-law right beneath the assertion of some.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind] Reference

It has been said that the court, by introducing into the construction of the statute common-law distinctions, has emasculated it.    From Wordnik.com.  [State of the Union Address (1790-2001)] Reference

But, if not, the firm will likely lobby the state to recognize common-law spouses for the purpose of the federal fund distributions.    From Wordnik.com.  [New Rules Mean More Money For Families] Reference

Well, obviously, since that time, he has created a common-law wife, yet he still has guardianship over life-and-death decisions, Tim.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 31, 2005] Reference

Our birthrate is one child per woman, and religious marriages are fewer every year, while the number of common-law couples increases.    From Wordnik.com.  [MAIL CALL] Reference

In the United States the common-law definition of burglary has been modified by statute in many states, so as to cover what is defined in.    From Wordnik.com.  [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary"] Reference