Meretricious Relationship Meaning

Meretricious relationships are not treated as marriages under the law. However, the parties involved can be granted rights enjoyed by a spouse, partly or fully.

These relationships usually fall under family law which is under the jurisdiction of the state in the US. However, there are no clear provisions relating to such relationships and any dispute is handled on a case-to-case basis.

In most cases, courts have the discretion whether or not to deem the relationship as marriage-like. If the courts determine a relationship as meretricious, the appellant is granted rights as a spouse.

There are several examples to consider when trying the understand a meretricious relationship with a legal prospect. 

In the Connell Vs Francisco case of 1995, the Washington Supreme Court came up with the verdict that "when a meretricious relationship is terminated, a trial court shall equitably redistribute the properties acquired during the relationship. 

Similarly, in the Pennington Vs Pennington case, the trial court initially ruled in favor of the distribution of assets equitably. The Washington Supreme Court didn't deem the relationship as meretricious and reversed the decision of the trial court. 

In doing so, the Supreme considered the following factors:

1. The parties didn't have continuous cohabitation as they lived separately twice during ten years of relationship, including once when the woman lived with a different partner for a month.
2. The man was married, although separated from his wife, in the first five of the relationship.
3. The man refused the woman's repeated offer to marry.

Considering the three factors, the Washington Supreme Court ruled out that the parties involved were not in a meretricious relationship and thus reversed the trial court's verdict to distribute the assets.