Picture this. You and your partner have lived together in Burleson for five years. Joint tax returns? Yes. At family dinners, you call each other husband and wife. The kids’ school has both of you listed as parents. However, you never had a wedding. There was never a marriage license either. So you are not married, right?
You might be. Common law marriage in Texas is real, and most people who are in one have no idea until something forces the question. It is normal to feel confused or worried about what this means for your home, your kids, and your future. At McCarty-Larson, PLLC, we walk clients through this exact situation often. Our family law team, led by Bria Larson, helps people across Ellis County, Johnson County, Tarrant County, and Dallas County figure out whether Texas considers them legally married, and what to do about it either way.
When you choose McCarty-Larson, you are choosing a legal team that will stand by you every step of the way.
The Seven-Year Rule Does Not Exist
Almost everyone believes Texas requires seven years of living together before a common law marriage counts. That belief is wrong. In fact, Texas law has no time requirement at all. A couple can become legally married under Texas Family Code Section 2.401 in a single day. Meanwhile, another couple can live together for thirty years without ever being married. The clock has nothing to do with it.
The Three Things That Make a Common Law Marriage in Texas
Texas calls this “informal marriage” in the statute. For it to exist, all three of the following must be true at the same time.
- You both agreed to be married. Not someday. Right now. An engagement does not count, because that is an agreement to marry in the future.
- You lived together in Texas as spouses. The cohabitation has to happen here, after the agreement, and it has to look like a marriage rather than two roommates.
- You held yourselves out to others as married. Telling friends you are husband and wife. Filing joint taxes. Signing a lease as a married couple. Wearing rings. Putting “Mr. and Mrs.” on Christmas cards.
If any one of those three is missing, no common law marriage exists. However, if all three are present, the marriage becomes legally real the moment they line up.
How People End Up Married Without Knowing It
The classic Texas common law marriage starts small. A couple moves in together in Midlothian. After a year, they start telling friends they are married because it is easier than explaining. They list each other as spouses on health insurance. The next tax season they file jointly. By year three, every person in their life believes they are married.
Years later, the relationship ends. One assumes they can simply move out and walk away. Meanwhile, the other shows up with an attorney and the receipts: joint tax returns, insurance forms, and family photos. As a result, a Texas court can find that a common law marriage existed, even if neither person consciously decided to create one.
What Being Common Law Married Actually Means
Once a common law marriage exists, it carries the same legal weight as a courthouse ceremony. That cuts both ways.
- Community property rules apply. Income, assets, and debts during the marriage belong to both spouses, no matter whose name sits on the title.
- Inheritance rights kick in. A common law spouse can inherit under Texas Estates Code rules the same as any other spouse.
- Spousal benefits apply. Social Security, medical decision-making, and health insurance spousal coverage all become available.
- Divorce is the only exit. No such thing as a common law divorce exists in Texas.
Our Texas divorce lawyers handle these cases regularly, including the hard ones where one person says the marriage existed and the other denies it.
The Two-Year Rule That Quietly Costs People Everything
Texas puts a two-year deadline on common law marriage cases. If a couple separates and more than two years go by without anyone filing to prove the marriage or file for divorce, Texas law presumes no marriage ever existed. After that window closes, you cannot claim community property, inheritance, or spousal benefits.
This rule blindsides people. Someone walks away from a long-term partner, takes time to deal with the fallout, and then finds out two years later that they have no legal claim to any of it. The house, the retirement account, the business they built together, all of it slips away simply because the clock ran out. Therefore, if you might be in a common law marriage and the relationship has ended, do not wait.
How to Prove You Are Not in a Common Law Marriage
Sometimes the question runs the other way. A former partner claims the marriage existed, usually to get property or inheritance, and you need to show it did not. To win, you have to knock out at least one of the three required elements.
Evidence on this side typically includes:
- Separate tax filings throughout the relationship
- Single-status declarations on mortgages, insurance forms, or government documents
- No joint bank accounts or shared financial commitments
- Testimony from friends or coworkers that the couple never represented themselves as married
- Written statements where one or both partners denied being married
Making It Official With a Declaration of Informal Marriage
Couples who want to be common law married, and who want to skip the dispute risk, can file a Declaration of Informal Marriage with the county clerk. Ellis, Johnson, Tarrant, and Dallas counties all accept these. The form is short, the fee is small, and once filed, the marriage goes on the public record with no future room for argument. The declaration carries the same legal weight as a marriage license.
How McCarty-Larson Can Help
The team at McCarty-Larson, PLLC has the experience to walk you through whatever side of this you are on. Whether you just realized you might already be married, you need to end a common law marriage, or you need to defend against someone claiming a marriage that never existed, our family law attorneys handle it.
- We help clients gather evidence of the three required elements
- We defend clients against false common law marriage claims
- We file divorce proceedings to formally dissolve common law marriages
- We handle property division and spousal support in informal marriage divorces
- We serve clients across Ellis County, Johnson County, Tarrant County, and Dallas County
- We offer free, confidential consultations to talk through your situation
The two-year clock starts the day a relationship ends, and once it runs out, the rights you may have built over years of life together disappear.
Call McCarty-Larson, PLLC at (972) 775-2100 for a free, confidential consultation, or reach out through our contact page. We will listen, walk you through your options in plain language, and help you figure out the right next step. Whether you are in Burleson, Midlothian, Arlington, or anywhere else in our service area, our Texas family law attorneys are ready to stand by you every step of the way.