# Pareja de hecho



## kuleshov

This is one of the expressions that everybody uses in Spanish but nobody knows how to use in English. The most approximate one I've ever found is "common-law marriage". Do people use this expression in everyday English? An English guy once told me that the problem is that these kinds of marriages are badly seen in the UK. Do you agree?


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## begoña fernandez

Yo creo que podría traducirse como: "De facto partneship"

A ver que dicen los nativos. 
Begoña


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## Artrella

begoña fernandez said:
			
		

> Yo creo que podría traducirse como: "De facto partneship"
> 
> A ver que dicen los nativos.
> Begoña




Well, I'm not a native but I've found this, and it seems to agree with your definition Begoña.

*de facto *   [Show phonetics]
adjective [before noun], adverb FORMAL
existing in fact, although not necessarily intended, legal or accepted:
_The city is rapidly becoming the de facto centre of the financial world.
He's her de facto husband though they're not actually married.
English is de facto the common language of much of the world today.
If it is on British soil then it is de facto British._
Compare de jure.

*de facto *   [Show phonetics]
noun [C] AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
a person with whom someone lives as a wife or a husband, although they are not married:
_They've invited Joanne and her de facto for lunch on Sunday._

_(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)_


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## araceli

de facto partnership


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## lauranazario

En el _Wiley's Spanish><English Legal Dictionary_ NO me aparece "de facto partnership", pero sí esto:

*de facto marriage* = matrimonio de hecho.

Espero que te sea útil.

Saludos,
LN


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## begoña fernandez

Lo primero que se me vino a la cabeza fue " de facto marriage", pero no todas las parejas son matrimonio (hetero) y quizás sea más apropiado utilizar partnership o, tal y como indica Artrella: his/her de facto... 

saluditos,
BF


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## cirrus

If you fill in a mortgage application and you aren't married you would tick the box "living together".  Alternatively you could just use partners - not quite the same as pareja de hecho but about as close as I can think of


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## smatarranz

Buenas tardes a todos, ¿podéis decirme como traducir "pareja de hecho"? 

Gracias


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## Gizmo77

Por lo que parece se dice "de facto partnership"

Espero que te sirva de ayuda.


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## El Guasio

la frase completa, pliz


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## Txiri

El Guasio said:
			
		

> la frase completa, pliz


 
*please*

*I disagree, however, at first blush ... without a context to support another idea of the phrase, I would say it´s a "common-law husband" or " ... wife"*


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## smatarranz

Thank you very much. The first clue I had, was common law marriadge, but as the word "marriadge" appeared, I did not feel pretty confident. Do you think "common-law marriadge" is a good traslation?


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## Txiri

Marriage is spelled without a d ...

I hear Mexicans use the phrase "unión libre" frequently, to refer to couples together, but not married according to law or "common law" ...

Did your text use "common law marriage"?  Because THAT I don´t think I´ve run across personally.  Our newspapers etc usually refer to the person as a common law spouse.  With your use of "pareja", I think that must refer to the person.  What do you think?


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## smatarranz

Thank you about the "d" !!!

What I have is a certificate saying that two people have been registered as a "pareja de hecho"


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## Txiri

All right, I just went and did a google search, and got 22,900 for c. l. union, and 480,000 for c. l. marriage.

Me, personally, maybe for the same reasons you had ... ?, I´d be disinclined to call it a "marriage", but there seems to be "authentic" (i.e., sites approaching the term from a legal standpoint) that support the use of marriage. 

Why don´t you google the terms, too, read a little of what the sites say, and see if you feel more comfortable using it? That´s probably what I would do in your shoes


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## helenduffy

They are a _de facto_ couple.

They have a _de facto_ domestic partnership.

S/He is Jean's common law wife/husband/spouse.

but if it is a gay or lesbian couple perhaps there was a formal ceremony involved (so not just a _de facto_ couple).  Then one can say: 

S/He is Jean's longtime companion. 

The term domestic partner is gender neutral.  
They formed a domestic partnership many years ago.


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## helenduffy

Oh!  A certificate of registration as a de facto couple?   Hmmm.  Sounds like a contradiction to me (nothing _de facto_ about it then!).

How about "registered as a domestic partnership"?
 or "registered as a couple"?


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## mazbook

In México, if you want your "pareja en unión libre" to be able to get your Social Security benefits, you register her as your "concubina".   "unión libre", in México, is almost exactly the same thing as a "common law marriage" in the U.S. states that recognize "common law marriages".  The main difference is that you don't have to get a divorce from an "unión libre" (but the man still may owe child support) and in the states, you may have to actually get a divorce from a legal, formal "common law marriage".


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## cirrus

In the UK whilst people often say common law marriage it's a complete misnomer of a term because it has no legal status whatsoever.  For example if you and your partner have kids and then you split up the man doesn't have automatic rights to see his children.


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## dauda98

cirrus said:
			
		

> In the UK whilst people often say common law marriage it's a complete misnomer of a term because it has no legal status whatsoever. For example if you and your partner have kids and then you split up the man doesn't have automatic rights to see his children.


 
Wow! That's pretty harsh.  Talk about forcing people to have to get married.  That is not the case here in the US.  However, depending on the jurisdiction it can take up to 7-10 yrs of living together for a couple to legally call themselves commonlaw wife/husband.


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## cirrus

Actually I've just thought how we say this here.  If you are in a pareja de hecho you'd just say we live together.


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## mazbook

Sure, cirrus, but you certainly couldn't register officially "living together".


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## El Guasio

honestly, I don't see the point of "registering" a common law marriage.  I suppose it would be the same as a civil marriage, a one without a religious ceremony.

As the mexican says "union libre" couples don't need a divorce.  Then what is the point of registering such a marriage.  I would understand for a couple, living together, to tie the knot and get a civil marriage, in case they don't want to get a religious ceremony.


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## mazbook

The point of "registering" the "unión libre", actually registering the "wife" as a "concubina" is so she (and her/their children) can qualify for various benefits from Social Security (free medical, drugs, etc.) derived from the "husband's" job that a normally married couple would automatically qualify for.  This applies only to México as far as I know.  I'm certain that that is the reason for registering as a "pareja de hecho" in whatever country that registration is done.


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## mariposita

You can't register a *common law marriage* in the US. And not all states in the US recognize a *common law marriage*, either. And it can't be a *de facto partnership* if there is registration taking place.

I think *registered domestic partnership* or *registered civil union* best describe the case that smatarranz has presented.


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## mazbook

Hola mariposita.  





			
				mariposita said:
			
		

> I think *registered domestic partnership* or *registered civil union* best describe the case that smatarranz has presented.


The first would work everywhere, I think, but the second wouldn't work in México, as ALL legal marriages are *registered civil unions *performed ONLY by judges from the local registro civil.  Any other sort of wedding ceremony is not a legal marriage.  Often, though, religious couples will have a church wedding *after *they have the civil wedding.  I guess they want to cover all the bases.


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## mariposita

Are you sure that in Mexico it's not called a *matrimonio civil?*


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## mazbook

mariposita, Yes, it is officially, but if you wrote registered civil union in English it could certainly be confused with registered civil marriage.  In my opinion only.


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## cirrus

mazbook said:
			
		

> Sure, cirrus, but you certainly couldn't register officially "living together".



Not in the UK.  As the law stands at the moment, if you are straight you can get married.  If you are gay you can have a civil partnership - it means pretty much the same thing.

In terms of getting married here you can do this in church or have a civil ceremony.  We haven't yet reached the stage where gay people can get married in church but I imagine this is a matter of time.  The law around civil partnerships only came in relatively recently. Most people are treating them as they though they were weddings plain and simple: in practice the difference between the two is minimal.  Already four of my friends who have been living together for years and years have got married.


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## Begonaf

Well, here in the States they use the term common law marriage, like I will be the comon law wife.
i hope this can help you.
Also there is many different States were this don't even applied and las parejas de hecho don't have any rights.


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## dauda98

First of all the term is "de facto marriage" not "de facto patnership".   Secondly, in English the more common term is "common-law marriage" and not "de facto marriage".


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## cirrus

The trouble with "common law marriage" is a term which at least in the UK  has not one iota of legal status whatsoever. This is despite any amount of people living with the illusion that the phrase confers some rights.  It doesn't.   That's why I put down living together.


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## Begonaf

CIRRUS, that is the problem, in Spain "pareja de hecho" has LOL rights but I'm afraid that is not the  case in many other countries


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## monicacicchetti

I am sorry Begonaf, what do you mean by LOL rights?


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## dauda98

cirrus said:


> The trouble with "common law marriage" is a term which at least in the UK has not one iota of legal status whatsoever. This is despite any amount of people living with the illusion that the phrase confers some rights. It doesn't. That's why I put down living together.


Also in the US, many states do not recognize such a status; however the term is understood, used and accepted as the word to use when making reference to such a partnership. 
My point is, whether it exists as a legal status or not in England or in some US states, the term has been coined in the English language as the appropriate expression to use when describing this type of informal union. Saying "living together" is just an explanation.  
I believe the original question was if it was used in every day English.  The answer to that would be: "YES"!


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## cirrus

I agree with your points. The thread starter also asked how this was seen in the UK. The thread is also in the subsection legal terminology.  This isn't a term recognised by the law in the UK. You would never see "common law marriage" on a form precisely because of this.


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## Begonaf

monicacicchetti said:


> I am sorry Begonaf, what do you mean by LOL rights?


 
Hi monicacicchetti,
Sorry to be late in my answer but I didn't see your question until now.
LOL really means "Laughing out loud", but I used in this sentence as irony. As a way to reinforce they have real rights, like inherit from theirs partners or all the benefits that our social system has to offer to a spouse.


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## davehuert

¿Has oído hablar de: "State Registered Domestic Partner"?

Quizá te sirva...


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## heatheryo

Yo sé que tarde años, pero...

Facebook traduce como "domestic partnership" en inglés. Aquí en EEUU, "domestic partnership" normalmente es un "matrimonio" entre parejas homosexuales. En algunos estados, parejas de hecho pueden obtener derechos parecidos a los de los casados heterosexuales.


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## litiga8or

heatheryo said:


> Yo sé que tarde años, pero...
> 
> Facebook traduce como "domestic partnership" en inglés. Aquí en EEUU, "domestic partnership" normalmente es un "matrimonio" entre parejas homosexuales. En algunos estados, parejas de hecho pueden obtener derechos parecidos a los de los casados heterosexuales.



No, that's not really quite right.  
A "domestic partnership" can mean many things.  I can be an official kind of a relationship, based upon laws passed by a state.  It can be an informal relationship.  It can be between people of different sexes.  Sometimes it can include people of the same sex--but not always.  A "registered domestic partnership" can be different from a "domestic partnership." 

Right now, the law is all mixed up.  Don't rely on Facebook or Google.  Do post lots of context to find the best translation for each particular stituation, from each state or country.


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## heatheryo

Thank you for clarifying. I wasn't aware of the ambiguity.


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## litiga8or

You're welcome.  I'm sure we'll have it sorted out in the next 100 years or so.  ;-)


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## xena87

helenduffy said:


> They are a _de facto_ couple.
> 
> They have a _de facto_ *domestic partnership*.
> 
> S/He is Jean's common law wife/husband/spouse.
> 
> but if it is a gay or lesbian couple perhaps there was a formal ceremony involved (so not just a _de facto_ couple).  Then one can say:
> 
> S/He is Jean's longtime companion.
> 
> The term domestic partner is gender neutral.
> They formed a domestic partnership many years ago.



In various states in the United States we have what's called a "domestic partnership." I just registered as a "pareja de hecho" in Spain and I think domestic partnership is the closest translation in English. However, co-habiting couple and de facto couple sound pretty close too. I believe a common law marriage is quite different. It's always tricky to find an exact translation because the actual laws differ quite a bit. In Spain, you can actually achieve a residence and work permit via being a registered "pareja de hecho" and I don't think the US grants that same right.


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