Palimony in the United States

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Palimony is the division of financial assets and real property on the termination of a personal live-in relationship wherein the parties are not legally married. The term "palimony" is not a legal or historical term, but rather a colloquial portmanteau of the words pal and alimony. Nevertheless, numerous secondary legal sources refer to the term, and attempt to describe its influence and implications upon actual statute law. The term was used prominently by celebrity divorce attorney Marvin Mitchelson in 1977 when his client Michelle Triola Marvin filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the actor Lee Marvin. While the suit was unsuccessful in this instance, the courts found that "in the absence of an express agreement, courts may look to a variety of other remedies to divide property equitably." The term had appeared earlier, in a 1927 editorial in The Odgen Standard-Examiner of Utah: "Some of the handsomest and sportiest young women in the capital belong to that Palimony Club and joke about...

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