How To Register To Marry Someone In Texas

How to Prove Common Law Matrimony in Texas

Over the shoulder view of husband and wife signing divorce agreement

Texas law, like many states, includes provisions for common law or "informal marriages" that have not been formally certified past the state. These informal marriages, in one case proven, carry the same rights and responsibilities of formal marriage. Proving that a common-law marriage exists for the purposes of adoption or tax breaks, for example, tin be catchy. Larn beneath the elements for proving a mutual police matrimony in Texas, and contact a knowledgeable Houston family police attorney for help.

Elements of a Texas Common Police Marriage

An informal marriage in Texas is a legal marriage but one that exists without the formalities or ceremony of a typical formal union. In gild for a common law marriage to be, y'all must demonstrate certain legal requirements. It is not important how long y'all have lived together or whether you accept children.

In order to prove that a common-law marriage exists, the parties must offset demonstrate that they are legally eligible for marriage in the land of Texas. Legal eligibility requires the post-obit:

Neither political party is already married, either formally or informally, to anyone else at the fourth dimension the marriage was created.
Both parties are at least 18 years onetime.
Neither political party can take had a divorce in the previous 30 days.
The parties cannot be too closely related to one another.

If the parties are legally eligible for spousal relationship, and so they must meet three additional requirements to authorize equally legally married.

Both parties must mutually concord that they are married. You cannot marry someone else without their consent.
Both parties must tell other people that they are married. You lot can demonstrate this by, for case, introducing the other party as your spouse, co-signing leases every bit a married couple, or filing joint revenue enhancement returns or credit card applications as spouses.
The parties must live together in Texas as husband and wife. If, for example, the parties acted equally husband and married woman in another land but did not present themselves every bit married to people in Texas, and then the parties are not eligible for breezy marriage in Texas.

Registering Your Marriage

If yous and your spouse satisfy the in a higher place criteria, then together yous tin can sign a Declaration of Informal Wedlock with the county clerk. Once signed and submitted, the announcement is a valid proof of marriage, and yous are considered married for all legal purposes. You lot can obtain the form from the county clerk. Note that a Declaration of Informal Marriage is not required to create a common law spousal relationship in Texas, but it does offer official proof that such a marriage does exist.

Proving the Matrimony Existed Later the Fact

If you were in an informal matrimony and are now separated, you may wish to demonstrate that you were previously married for the purposes of spousal or child support or other reasons. The elements of an informal marriage must all have been met for the time catamenia you claim you were married in order for y'all to obtain a proper divorce. Additionally, you lot must prove that the marriage existed inside a certain time period after the stop of the relationship. Pursuant to section two.401(b) of the Texas Family Code, y'all have two years following your separation to testify the validity of your informal marriage. If you lot exercise not testify that you had an breezy marriage within two years later on separation, there is a rebuttable presumption that no spousal relationship existed. Unless this presumption can exist overcome or rebutted with sufficient evidence, the courts will decide that you did not actually enter into an agreement to be informally married, and you will non have the legal benefits of a divorce proceeding.

Get Help with Divorce and Family Law Matters in Houston

If you're facing divorce or other family law bug in Texas, get legal help protecting your rights by contacting the seasoned, empathetic, and effective Houston family law attorney Maria Lowry at 713-850-8859.

Maria Lowry | Posted on May 28, 2019