Supreme court has judged a woman cohabiting with a man for a long duration and living with him in the nature of wife is entitled to property rights after his death, like a wife would be. A bench of Justice MY Eqbal and Justice Amitava Roy said continuous cohabitation of a couple would raise the presumption of valid marriage and it would be for the opposite party to prove that they were not legally married. "It is well settled that the law presumes in favour of marriage and against concubinage, when a man and woman have cohabited continuously for a long time. However, the presumption can be rebutted by leading unimpeachable evidence. A heavy burden lies on a party who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin," the bench said. I haven’t read full judgment, but I really doubt that … [Read more...] about Lack of legal wedding no bar for ‘live-in’ woman to claim property rights after ‘husband’s’ death