[AnnaC]

I'm going to move you to the legal forum since this is a legal quetion.

Here is a quote from our resident Lawyer Fabio Guzman;

Originally Posted by Fabio J. Guzman

An update of the situation:

There is no such thing as a "common law marriage" in the Dominican Republic. Living together, our Supreme Court has said, is never equivalent to a normal marriage.

However, certain provisions in the Labor Code, the Minors Code and the Criminal Code acknowledge that living together has legal consequences. For example, a worker has the right to a few days off work if his or her companion gives birth to his child; domestic violence to a companion treated the same as domestic violence to a wife. On October 17, 2001, a Supreme Court decision gave a surviving concubine the right to sue for the wrongful death of her companion in an automobile accident under very restrictive conditions:

a) the couple must have lived as if they were husband and wife, in a public relationship, not hidden or secret;

b) the relationship must be stable and long-lasting;

c) the relationship must be monogamous and non-adulterous since its origins ; and

d) the couple should be of different sexes. The ruling goes on to say expressly that "marriage and extra matrimonial companionship are not . . equivalent realities”.

During the present decade, lower courts have expanded these rights to other areas, giving the "common-law wife" ("concubina" in Doiminican legal terminology) rights in the estate of her "common-law husband" or rights to "community property" in case of separation.

Recently, however, the Supreme Court rejected the claim made by a surviving companion to 50% of her deceased companion's estate. The claimant had argued that her lifelong relationship should be equivalent to marriage under community-property rules.

They didn't have children or even live together so I would advise your Dad seek a lawyer or move if she has that much power in her town.