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common law

Common law is a body of legal rules that have been made by judges as they issue rulings on cases, as opposed to rules and laws made by the legislature or in official statutes. (noun)

An example of common law is a rule that a judge made that says that people have a duty to read contracts.

Common law describes a union between a couple who has lived together for long enough that they are essentially considered for some legal purpose to be married, even though they never actually legally wed. (adjective)

An example of a common law marriage is when two people have lived together for 10 or more years and have thus earned a legal right to share their assets because of it.

See common law in Webster's New World College Dictionary

the law of a country or state based on custom, usage, and the decisions and opinions of law courts: it is now largely codified by legislative definition

See common law in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

The system of laws originated and developed in England and based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws.

(kŏmˈən-lôˌ)

adjective

Of, relating to, or based on common law.
Of or relating to a common-law marriage.

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