Texas recognizes informal marriage, otherwise known as common law marriage. There are a lot of common misconceptions about what it means to be informally married, but there are clear requirements on establishing a common law marriage.
There are 3 requirements in Texas to be common law married. All 3 must be true at the SAME time.
To be informally married, you must:
1. Agree to be Married
Both you and your partner must consent and agree to be married. This agreement can be verbal or written. It also requires both people to agree – it can’t be 1 sided.
2. Live Together as Spouses in Texas
You must live together as a married couple in Texas.
3. Represent Yourselves as Married to Others
You must represent to other people you are married. This can be things like wearings rings, filing joint tax returns, and calling each other spouses. Other things like signing real estate documents as spouses or being listed as a spouse on insurance are good examples of representing oneself as married to others.
Common Misconceptions about Common Law Marriage
There are several misconceptions family law attorneys hear a lot. Here are the most common ones:
- Misconception number 1: There is a time limit or requirement on how long you have to live together to be “common law married.”
- Spoiler alert: that is not a requirement! There is no set timeframe for how long a couple must live together to be considered married. You either meet all 3 factors or you don’t.
- Misconception number 2: Since we weren’t “married-married,” there is no need to get divorced.
- If you are married, you are married and need to get divorced. Whether someone had a religious or formal ceremony or is informally married, a marriage only ends in death or divorce.
- Misconception number 3: We have been apart for a year, so no need to get divorced.
- Again, marriage only ends in death or divorce. There is a presumption that if no divorce was brought in 2 years after the couple separates, there was not a common law marriage but its rebuttable. That means, if someone brings a case after that and can prove there was a marriage because all the factors were met, then the case proceeds.
- Misconception number 4: A proposal means marriage.
- This one is tricky. What happened after the proposal? Did you meet the 3 required factors? That is what a Court would focus on. Otherwise, its just an engagement. It really depends – if you are married, no need for a proposal. Think about the 3 factors and whether they existed before/after the proposal.
Why Is it Important to Prove There is a Marriage?
As spouses, there may be certain requirements or obligations that have to be fulfilled financially in the event of divorce. A spouse may be entitled to spousal maintenance, which is not on the table if there is no marriage. Another thing that gets affected if there is no marriage is property division – there isn’t community property to be divided if there is no marriage. The existence of a marriage affects assets, eligibility for spousal maintenance, whether you are eligible to inherit from another person, insurance coverage/eligibility, etc.
Have questions about informal marriage? Call or reach out to our office.
To learn more , email us or call us at 214-528-3344 (Dallas) or
817-230-4442 (Ft. Worth) or 972-312-1212 (Plano).