Are communications between common-law spouses privileged?

Communications between common-law spouses are generally not considered privileged. Privilege in legal terms refers to the protection of certain communications from being disclosed in court, typically to maintain the confidentiality of specific relationships, such as those between lawyers and clients, or spouses in a marriage.

In the case of common-law relationships, the privilege that applies to married couples does not automatically extend to common-law partners. As such, without specific legal circumstances or agreements that establish a different kind of confidentiality, communications between common-law spouses do not enjoy the same level of protection as those between married spouses.

This means that if a common-law couple were to separate or if a dispute arose, their communications could potentially be disclosed and used in legal proceedings, which would not be the case for married couples under common law. Thus, the correct understanding is that they do not have the same privileges as formally married couples, leading to the conclusion that communications between common-law spouses are generally not privileged.