Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

I am in Texas. My ex and I were engaged. Our wedding was cancelled and he ended up moving to Colorado, while I still live in TX with my daughter (not his biologically). He flew out to visit and we were going to get married. He completed an application for a marriage certificate which I never signed and didnt see for almost 2 months. Being "romantic", we exchanged vows informally in front of a man who said he is an ordained minister, my ex's friend. We planned to get the marriage certificate after doing some premarital counseling. Afterwards, my ex stayed in town for just less than 2 weeks. He has come back to visit on occasion, never staying with me for more than 2 weeks. We never got a marriage certificate so I never really considered us legally married. I filed my taxes as head of household and list myself as single/divorced (from a previous marriage) on everything. We are no longer together due to his infidelity. He has not lived with me or in Texas since we took our "vows", we have no community property, no kids together, no joint bank accounts, no insurance policies to worry about, there is nothing tying us together. I dont even know if we are considered common law married based on the criteria I've read online. Do we have to get divorced? If we do have to go through legal proceedings, do we qualify for an annulment?


Asked on 3/07/13, 5:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cynthia Henley Cynthia Henley, Lawyer

Common law marriage requires 3 things: 1) agreement to be married (not to get married but agree to be married immediately without legalities); 2) holding selves out as married; and 3) cohabitation. So, it does not sound at all like you were married.

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Answered on 3/08/13, 1:14 pm


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