Living Together Is Not Marriage
ORS 106.010 and ORS 106.041 — a civil contract, a license, and a solemnization before two witnesses
In Oregon, marriage is a civil contract entered into in person by two people at least 18 years of age who are otherwise capable, and solemnized as the statute provides. Living together, for however long, does not by itself meet that definition.
A license first. Everyone wishing to marry obtains a marriage license from the county clerk on a written application, and the clerk may not issue it until the statute's requirements are met. The license states that neither spouse is the property of the other.
Solemnization. No particular form is required, except that the two declare, in the presence of a person or organization authorized to solemnize marriages and at least two witnesses, that they take each other to be spouses.
Registered domestic partnerships, marriages from elsewhere, and how property is divided between unmarried partners are not on this page. What rights a particular couple has is a question for a licensed Oregon attorney.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORS 106.010 — Marriage as civil contract
- ORS 106.041 — Marriage license
- ORS 106.150 — Form of solemnization
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Oregon attorney.