According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_Uni..., particularly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_Uni...), California explicitly doesn't allow common-law marriages (to which you seem implicitly to be referring); and, anyway, it seems that a common-law marriage must be explicitly consented to, rather than being a state that develops involuntarily (based on a skim of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_Uni... ; for example, of Colorado, "The elements of a common-law marriage are, with respect to both spouses: (1) holding themselves out as husband and wife; (2) consenting to the marriage; (3) cohabitation; and (4) having the reputation in the community as being married").