That's under ENGLISH common law.
I do not believe there is anything similar
in Japan. Recall that English Common Law
developed to protect the rights of individuals.
Japanese law exists solely to protect the ruling
classes. Any benefit to individuals is purely 
accidental. 
In Japan, to the best of my knowledge, you're married
once you fill out the 
paper work. The 'ceremony'(shinzen kekkon) is just
that.
The marriage is a civil process. 

Useful URLs: http://www.hhs.se/eijs/anomaly/Omiai.htm
http://cdc.qc.ca/langues/Pages/Japanlinks/Japansinglelife.htm


--- Andrew <ark70d@mizzou.edu> wrote:

On Tue, 7 Sep 1999, Thor Odinson wrote:

Salutations and Greetings to one and all of the

FFML!!!

^_^

I have a question to ask of thee, concerning

Japanese common law [if

there is such a creature...]

In some areas, if a single female of age [lets say

16 years] lives with

a single male @ the same residence for a specific

amount of time [say

six months], they are considered married.

Now that I've never heard before...

My question is this:
Would Ranma be married to all three Tendo

daughters under Japanese

common law due to the extended stay he has

performed?

Only if Genma & Soun ever realized it. (Then again,
Kodachi could use this
to kidnap Ranma and keep him there for 6+ months.)

Ranma:  SAY WHAT???????
Kasumi: Oh my!  He's too young to be my husband.
Nabiki: I'm filing for divorce, Saotome.  
Akane: [smashing Ranma] How DARE you get married

to me AND MY SISTERS! 

And it's probably archaic anyway...of course I could
see even worse
problems with this...

Ranma: Wait...isn't marryin' more than one girl at a
time bigamy?
Soun: No, my son-in-law, that's big of me...
 

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