What Are Some Issues With Common Law Marriages In Texas?

What are some issues with common-law marriages in Texas?

There aren’t different laws for community assets or community property division in the state of Texas between a common law marriage and a valid legal marriage. The issue with common law marriage is you have to have the marriage recognized by the court before any of this would apply. Proving a common law marriage is a rut that most people have a difficult time comprehending or establishing because you cannot just roll in the court and say I was married to somebody, even though you never formally married or had a legal marriage. You have to establish via facts, testimony, or something to have the Court recognize that there was a valid marriage then, you can go about the process of dividing the estate up, assuming there was one that was created. Assuming the court will recognize the divorce, you then have to establish when did the divorce begin and then obviously when was there a separation or when was there the filing. Just because you believe there is a common law marriage or just because the Court recognizes there was one, you would also have to establish when that marriage was created so you can determine what assets if any you would be entitled to.