Form SSA-754, the Statement of Marital Relationship, is the sworn statement the Social Security Administration uses to verify a marriage when no marriage certificate exists. You complete it under penalty of perjury, answering 25 numbered items about how and when you began living together, how you presented yourselves publicly, and who can confirm the relationship. If your claim for spousal or survivor’s benefits rests on a common-law marriage or a formal marriage whose records have been lost, this form is the core of your proof.
When Social Security Asks for This Form
The most common trigger is a common-law marriage. About ten states and the District of Columbia still allow new common-law marriages, including Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Rhode Island and Oklahoma recognize them through case law rather than statute. If you and your partner lived in one of these places, agreed to be married, and held yourselves out to the community as a married couple, you may have a valid marriage under state law without ever having a ceremony or license.
The form also comes into play when a ceremonial marriage did happen but the paperwork is gone. Courthouses burn, floods destroy records, and some jurisdictions kept unreliable records decades ago. In those cases, SSA needs another way to confirm the marriage existed, and your detailed sworn account fills that gap.
Federal regulations set out what counts as acceptable proof. Under 20 CFR § 404.726, the preferred evidence for a common-law marriage is signed statements from both spouses plus statements from two blood relatives. If one spouse has died, SSA wants the surviving spouse’s statement together with statements from two blood relatives of the deceased. Where no blood relative is available, statements from other people who knew about the marriage can substitute.1Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.726 – Evidence of Common-Law Marriage
What the 25 Items Ask
The form goes well beyond biographical data. It is asking you to prove, through specific details, that your relationship looked and functioned like a marriage in every way that matters.
The opening items collect identifying information: your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and the same for your spouse. From there the questions get more granular. You describe when and where you began living together, the addresses you shared, and how long each arrangement lasted. If children were born during the relationship, you list each child’s full name at birth, date of birth, and place of birth.2Social Security Administration. Statement of Marital Relationship
The form then turns to how the outside world saw the relationship. Item 14 asks whether you had joint business dealings or store charge accounts, and wants names, addresses, and dates. Item 15 asks how you introduced your partner to relatives, friends, neighbors, and business acquaintances, and how they introduced you. These details matter because a core element of common-law marriage in most states is that the couple held themselves out publicly as married.2Social Security Administration. Statement of Marital Relationship
You also identify people with personal knowledge of the marriage. Those names feed directly into SSA’s follow-up, because the agency will contact them or ask them to complete their own statement forms.
Evidence to Gather Before You Start
The form goes faster and holds up better if you pull your supporting material together first. Vague answers slow claims down or lead to denials. Before you begin:
- Build a timeline of cohabitation: exact dates you began living together, every address you shared, and the dates at each address. Gaps and inconsistencies here raise red flags.
- Collect the children’s records: birth certificates listing both parents, or any documents showing the children’s names, birth dates, and birthplaces.
- Pull financial records that show a joint life: joint tax returns, joint bank accounts, shared insurance policies, mortgage documents with both names, or store credit accounts held together.
- Find public-facing documents: memberships in organizations that list both of you as spouses, holiday cards signed with a shared last name, mail addressed to you as a couple.
- Prepare witness contact information: full names, current addresses, and phone numbers for family, neighbors, employers, or friends who can confirm the marriage. SSA prefers blood relatives, so start with family.
The more concrete and consistent your material is, the less likely SSA will need follow-up interviews or extra documentation.
The Companion Form for Witnesses
Your SSA-754 does not stand alone. SSA pairs it with Form SSA-753, the Statement Regarding Marriage, which third-party witnesses complete. SSA then compares the two forms for consistency.
Witness requirements depend on whether both spouses are alive. When both spouses are living, SSA’s procedures call for each spouse to complete an SSA-754, and for a blood relative of each spouse to complete an SSA-753. When one spouse has died, the surviving spouse files an SSA-754 while one blood relative of the surviving spouse and two blood relatives of the deceased spouse each complete an SSA-753.3Social Security Administration. POMS GN 00305.065 – Development of Common-Law Non-Ceremonial Marriages
If a blood relative isn’t available, a statement from another person with direct knowledge of the marriage can substitute.1Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.726 – Evidence of Common-Law Marriage Witnesses need to explain specifically why they believe the marriage existed, not just confirm they knew the couple. Coordinate with them so accounts align on dates, addresses, and how the relationship was presented publicly. Contradictions between forms are one of the fastest ways to trigger a deeper investigation.
State-Law Questions That Decide Whether SSA Accepts Your Marriage
Even a well-documented SSA-754 depends on state law. SSA generally recognizes a common-law marriage if it was valid under the law of the state where you formed it, even if you later moved to a state that no longer allows new common-law unions.4Social Security Administration. POMS GN 00305.075 – State Laws on Validity of Common-Law Non-Ceremonial Marriages
There is an important limit. Some states refuse to recognize common-law marriages their own residents tried to form by taking a short trip to a common-law state. If you lived in Illinois and spent a weekend in Colorado, Illinois will not recognize a common-law marriage created there. Minnesota and Wisconsin apply the same rule. You would need to have genuinely resided in the common-law state.4Social Security Administration. POMS GN 00305.075 – State Laws on Validity of Common-Law Non-Ceremonial Marriages
SSA recognizes valid same-sex marriages, including common-law ones. When a same-sex couple alleges a common-law marriage, SSA refers the claim for a legal opinion to determine validity under the applicable state’s law. New Hampshire is the exception, where same-sex common-law marriages can be processed without a separate legal referral.5Social Security Administration. POMS GN 00210.002 – Determining Marital Status for Title II and Medicare Benefits
Signing and Submitting the Form
You can download the form from SSA’s website or pick one up at a local field office. It does not require notarization. You sign under a penalty of perjury declaration stating that you understand anyone who knowingly gives a false or misleading statement about a material fact “commits a crime and may be sent to prison, or may face other penalties, or both.”2Social Security Administration. Statement of Marital Relationship
Deliver the completed form to your local Social Security field office. You can hand-deliver it or send it by certified mail so you have a delivery receipt if anything goes missing. Keep copies of everything: the form, all supporting documents, and the SSA-753 forms your witnesses filed.
Take the perjury warning seriously. Knowingly making a false statement to a federal agency is a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally Separately, under 20 CFR § 404.459, a false or misleading statement about a material fact on an SSA form triggers benefit withholding: six months for a first offense, twelve for a second, and twenty-four for a third or later offense. Knowingly omitting a material fact is treated the same as an affirmative false statement.7eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 – Federal Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance
What Happens After You File
A claims representative reviews your SSA-754 alongside the SSA-753 witness statements, looking for consistency. Do your dates match your witnesses’ dates? Do the addresses line up? Did everyone describe the same kind of public relationship? Review typically takes several weeks.
If something does not add up, the agency schedules a follow-up interview to clarify specific details. That is not necessarily bad news; handwriting can be unclear, or a witness may remember a date differently. But material contradictions will trigger a deeper look. You can track status through your my Social Security online account.
If Social Security Denies the Claim
If SSA decides your evidence does not establish a valid marriage, you have 60 days from receipt of the denial to request reconsideration on Form SSA-561.8Social Security Administration. Request Reconsideration Use that window to add evidence: a witness who was unavailable the first time, financial records you overlooked, or a more detailed statement from a blood relative can all strengthen the second attempt.
If reconsideration fails, you can request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. Marital claims often get a real second chance at this stage. The ALJ can question you and your witnesses directly, under oath, and focus specifically on the reason the claim was denied. You have the right to bring witnesses and to question any witnesses present, and SSA provides an interpreter at no cost if you need one.9Social Security Administration. Hearing Process You can represent yourself or bring a representative. Further appeals run to the Appeals Council and, ultimately, federal court, though most marital relationship claims are resolved well before that point.