Poll of the Day > TIL I might be common-law married

(+) Yeah! (+)

my SO and I have told people were married before, live together, and pretty much act married. Which is all it takes in Texas I guess.

https://guides.sll.texas.gov/common-law-marriage

Common law marriage, also known as marriage without formalities or informal marriage, is a valid and legal way for a couple to marry in Texas. Texas law states that a common law marriage may be proved by evidence that the couple:
agreed to be married; and
after the agreement they lived together in this state as husband and wife; and they
represented to others that they were married

https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=articles&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=46987

The requirement that each party must hold out to others as married simply means the parties must represent to others that they are married. Texas caselaw states that the purpose of this requirement is to ensure that there is no secret common-law marriage. While spoken words alone can fulfill this requirement, actions and conduct by each person are also examined. For example, introducing each other as spouses, wearing rings on ring fingers, or signing credit applications as a married couple could separately qualify as holding out to others as married. Filing joint tax returns, adding someone to the family country club membership, and even the address on Christmas card envelopes can come into play. Oftentimes, the evidence that supports the holding out element also supports an agreement to be married.

It does not depend on one particular fact. The court can infer an agreement to be married and holding out to others by proof that you lived together, told others that you were married, used your partners last name, filed joint tax returns as spouses or as a married person filing singly, signed leases or other documents as spouses, made joint purchases, included your partner on your health insurance, made your partner the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, made joint loan applications or agreements, applied for public benefits and listed your partner as spouse, and having children together. Introducing your partner as your spouse on a single occasion might not be enough by itself, but it may be if coupled with other evidence suggesting that you acted like a married couple and that others thought you were married.

This doesnt mean anything but thats kinda neat to know I guess.

Merry holidays, PotD

My state got rid of common law marriage back in 2005.

Usually there's a time requirement, number of years living together, before it becomes legally enforced.
You'd best do whatever you can to disavow that you two are common law married, lest the family courts come after you when you two potentially split up.

rjsilverthorn posted...

My state got rid of common law marriage back in 2005.

Every state should. It's abhorrent it still exists.

streamofthesky posted...

Usually there's a time requirement, number of years living together, before it becomes legally enforced.

not in Texas.
There Is No Magic Length of Time to Become Common-Law Married
Despite the myth, seven or five or three years of living together does not create a common-law marriage. No durational requirement establishes a common-law marriage

You'd best do whatever you can to disavow that you two are common law married, lest the family courts come after you when you two potentially split up

nothing worth losing! if we split itd be pretty amicable, I would think

MrMelodramatic posted...

not in Texas.
There Is No Magic Length of Time to Become Common-Law Married
Despite the myth, seven or five or three years of living together does not create a common-law marriage. No durational requirement establishes a common-law marriage

Holy crap, Texas really is a third world country!

nothing worth losing! if we split itd be pretty amicable, I would think

Plenty of people thought they'd either never get dumped/divorced/cheated on by their significant other and/or that they'd always resolve things amicably, until reality smacked them in the face.
And maybe you have nothing now, but who knows in a year or 3 years, you might be doing much better and suddenly have a lot to lose. Don't assume/accept being in a rut forever.

What kind of old-fashioned, borderline fascist, nonsense is this?

If people do not get the legal paperwork, they are not married. It is not the business of the government what goes on romantically (or not) behind your closed front-door.

Reminds me of the so called "toothbrush brigade" that existed here in the 80's...

Edit: wait, is this how you can marry someone of the same sex in the US, just continuously say you are married while in earshot of public officials?

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

What kind of old-fashioned, borderline fascist, nonsense is this?

If people do not get the legal paperwork, they are not married. It is not the business of the government what goes on romantically (or not) behind your closed front-door.

By your own argument, it is the business of the government, because the legal paperwork of the government is literally the only thing that validates a marriage in the first place.

Sure, we could argue that people get married "in the eyes of God" or by whatever other standards they choose to acknowledge, but the world as a whole doesn't consider any of those things binding or meaningful unless a specific government acknowledges it.

Common-law marriage actually does have a purpose - it was useful at a time when communication was limited and there were places where authority wasn't present to confirm a marriage for legal purposes. All two people who wanted to be married needed to do was affirm that they considered themselves married, and if they'd spent enough time cohabiting and otherwise acting like a couple, then it counted.

It's also not as much of an issue as people are making it out to be, because it literally doesn't take effect unless both parties agree - at which point it isn't much different from filling out a marriage license anyway. You can't really be "involuntarily married" by accident just because you live with someone for a while. And most states have long since done away with it anyway... and the ones that haven't mostly treat it like other "obsolete" laws that no one bothers to repeal (ie, not really enforcing it).

Like, I can technically be arrested in New Jersey for eating pickles on a Sunday, but it's not like anyone is ever going to enforce that.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

What kind of old-fashioned, borderline fascist, nonsense is this?

If people do not get the legal paperwork, they are not married. It is not the business of the government what goes on romantically (or not) behind your closed front-door.

Reminds me of the so called "toothbrush brigade" that existed here in the 80's...

Edit: wait, is this how you can marry someone of the same sex in the US, just continuously say you are married while in earshot of public officials?

imagine getting so bent out of shape over this

PotD just jelly because Im married and it cost $0

My SO is on my family plan for Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Apple Arcade, so thats enough evidence were married.

MrMelodramatic posted...

agreed to be married;

I'm assuming you did this, then?

EclairReturns posted...

I'm assuming you did this, then?

Yeah thats the only iffy but tbh. We both want to be married but dont want to do the engagement/wedding thing. And weve told people were married before. Id say weve agreed too it, though, yeah.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Like, I can technically be arrested in New Jersey for eating pickles on a Sunday, but it's not like anyone is ever going to enforce that.

I dare you to do it and film it.

MrMelodramatic posted...

PotD just jelly because Im married and it cost $0

It cost me nothing to get married too, and I have a certificate to prove it.

For the purposes of things like filing our taxes as common-law and extending my work's health benefits to my girlfriend, we just had to live together for a year while in a relationship. But that's Canada.

Ezekiel2320 posted...

I dare you to do it and film it.

I'm not going to cater to your fetish of watching people deep throat gerkins.

ZangsBeard posted...

It cost me nothing to get married too, and I have a certificate to prove it.

Most places you have to pay to get the marriage license:

https://www.usmarriagelaws.com/marriage-license/application/fees-cost

Also, weddings themselves are inherently expensive, as are receptions. Sure, you can cheap out in ways, but almost every scenario costs something.

Even just seeing a Justice of the Peace (about the bare minimum) costs money. Again, it depends on where you are, but it generally starts around $50 and goes up from there.

It would be exceedingly hard for the average person to ever get legally married for $0. You'd basically either have to have friends in the right places willing to expedite things for free, or luck out and happen to be in an extremely rare place that doesn't charge for it.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I'm not going to cater to your fetish of watching people deep throat gerkins.

Don't be such a tease PO.

We all know you can go way past a gerkin.