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Articles Posted in Common Law Marriage

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Texas Jury Finds Same-Sex Couple Was Not Informally Married

Texas is among the states that still recognize informal marriage, sometimes called “common-law marriage.” A couple may establish an informal marriage by signing a document entitled “declaration of informal marriage.”  In the absence of a declaration, a party may also prove the existence of a Texas informal marriage through evidence…

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Texas Informal Marriage: Agreement to Be Married

A Texas common-law marriage can occur when the parties agree to be married, subsequently live together as married within the state, and represent themselves as married.  Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 2.401. The agreement to be married is a separate requirement that must be proven, although it may sometimes be…

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Texas Appeals Court Upholds Finding of Informal Marriage

Texas is one of the few states that still recognizes “informal marriage,” also sometimes known as “common law marriage.” A party who petitions for divorce from an informal marriage  often must  prove the existence of the informal marriage in the first place. To prove there was an informal marriage, the…

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Texas Court Finds No Common Law Marriage Existed Despite Representations the Parties Were Married

Texas, unlike many states, still recognizes common law marriage (also known as an “informal” marriage). Unlike with formal marriages, a common law spouse often has to prove that the marriage even existed before getting a divorce.  A party may prove that an informal marriage exists by showing that the parties…

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Texas Common Law Marriage after Divorce

Texas recognizes common law marriages. To have a common law marriage, the parties must have agreed to be married, must have lived together as spouses after that agreement, and presented themselves as married.  When most people think of common law marriages, they consider couples who were never formally married.  However,…

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Same-Sex Couples and Common Law Marriage

The legalization of same-sex marriage may only be a few months old, but Texas’ informal marriage laws may provide for marriage recognition dating back decades. On June 26, 2015 the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, legalizing same-sex marriage in every state of the Union.…

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