Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: When are a couple considered common law married?

A common law marriage arises when three elements (prongs) are met. First, they parties must cohabitate. This one is usually easy. Your question about "sleeping together" vs. Cohabitation is a non-issue. Simply that you cohabitated for one day might be sufficient if you can meets prongs two and three. Prong number 2 is that you must have held yourselves out to others as married. Did you tell tell anyone that you were married? Did he/she tell anyone that you were married? Did you file a joint tax return? Did you have a joint checking account? Did you use the same last name? Apartment lease? There may be a great deal of other items that could be used to find the holding out requirement. The third prong is an agreement to be married. Did you have an agreement to be married? This may be infered from the second prong. If you have all three prongs, then you are common law married.

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Darren