Does Common Law marriage exsist in Texas?

Question

it's a very complicated situation!!

I've been with my boyfriend for 6 years and last year I HAD AN AFFAIR and ended up losing my mind for a minute and marring the guy from the affair with out my boyfriend knowing. When he found out we broke up for 2 months then we decided to get back together so now My "husband" is trying to blackmail me saying if I don't fix his legal status here he will make sure my life is a living hell. Also I have 2 boys from My boyfriend ages 4& 2 so my boyfriend said that maybe there could be a way to annaul my marriage if common law marriage is legal in Texas.

Answer 1

Yes.

In order to be valid a valid common law marriage in Texas the following elements must exist:

1) the capacity to marry, i.e. both parties must be of lawful age, and not married to someone else (there is no common law bigamy);

2) both parties must intend to be married to each other; and

3) they must hold themselves out to the world as being married (share bank accounts, woman takes the man's name or hyphenates, etc.).

No set amount of time is required. A common law marriage occurs when all three of the above are in place, and then it is just as valid as a formal marriage, and cannot be dissolved without divorce.

Answer 2

How is your husband threatening to make your life a living hell? What does he think he can do?

As others have stated, TX does recognize common law marriage. But it takes more than just living together/having children together to be considered common law married.

Also, keep in mind that if you file for annulment on the grounds that you were already married, then you’re admitting to bigamy, which is a crime.

Talk to a local attorney in detail about the situation. Many will offer a free initial consultation.

Answer 3

Yes! yes and yes! TX t's one of the few states that recognize Common Law marriage. It's legally recognized after cohabitation or/and 7 years together I believe.

What is a common-law marriage?
A small minority of states, including Texas, allow the creation of marriage by common law. A common-law marriage is one in which there is no ceremony or marriage license. As in the above definition, parties must be capable of contracting and generally be of opposite gender. A common law marriage requires an actual agreement by the two people to act as husband and wife. The agreement may be by words or conduct. In addition, there must also be a "holding out" of the marital status and cohabitation. This means that the parties must represent themselves as married to others, such as using the same name, calling each other "husband" or "wife", opening joint accounts or contracting joint debt, filing a joint tax return, etc. If there is a disagreement as to whether or not the parties are married, the person alleging that a marriage exists must prove the marriage by clear and convincing evidence. If the relationship is not initially a common law marriage, because of a lack of contract capacity, the common law marriage may still be created if the couple continues the "marital" relationship after the contract defect is removed.



http://www.raggiolaw.com/comlaw.htm

Answer 4

Yes it does exists in TX but is only legal if you have lived together-no matter how long, have referred to each other in public as husband or wife AND there was no correction of it by either person, and if there was an agreement between both people of presenting yourselves as being married. I live in TX and have a friend who actually legally divorced her bf because of the common law marriage and she said that her lawyer said that if neither one of them had presented themselves as husband and wife it would not have been legal.