Sec. 2.401. PROOF OF INFORMAL MARRIAGE. (a) In a judicial, administrative, or other proceeding, the marriage of a man and woman may be proved by evidence that:
(1) a declaration of their marriage has been signed as provided by this subchapter; or
(2) the man and woman agreed to be married and after the agreement they lived together in this state as husband and wife and there represented to others that they were married.
(b) If a proceeding in which a marriage is to be proved as provided by Subsection (a)(2) is not commenced before the second anniversary of the date on which the parties separated and ceased living together, it is rebuttably presumed that the parties did not enter into an agreement to be married.
(c) A person under 18 years of age may not:
(1) be a party to an informal marriage; or
(2) execute a declaration of informal marriage under Section 2.402.
(d) A person may not be a party to an informal marriage or execute a declaration of an informal marriage if the person is presently married to a person who is not the other party to the informal marriage or declaration of an informal marriage, as applicable.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 7, Sec. 1, eff. April 17, 1997. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1362, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 268 (S.B. 6), Sec. 4.12, eff. September 1, 2005.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
179
cases (
39 in the last 5 years), 1998–2026 · leading case:
Ranolls v. Dewling, 223 F. Supp. 3d 613 (E.D. Tex. 2016).
Ranolls v. Dewling, 223 F. Supp. 3d 613 (E.D. Tex. 2016).
· cites it 5× “Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401. Hogan invokes the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell, issued on June 26, 2015, which granted same-sex couples the right to marry and to have lawful same-sex marriages recognized.”
Assoun v. Gustafson, 493 S.W.3d 156 (Tex. App. 2016).
· cites it 3× “Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401. A párty may prove these elements by circumstantial evidence.”
Ganesan v. Vallabhaneni, 96 S.W.3d 345 (Tex. App. 2002).
· cites it 2× “” Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (West 1998).”
Smith v. Deneve, 285 S.W.3d 904 (Tex. App. 2009).
· cites it 2× “Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (Vernon 2006).”
Jasper v. State, 61 S.W.3d 413 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001).
“Tex. Fam.Code § 2.401(a)(l)(2) (Vernon 1998).”
Small v. McMaster, 352 S.W.3d 280 (Tex. App. 2011).
· cites it 2× “An informal or common-law marriage exists in Texas if the parties (1) agreed to be married, (2) lived together in Texas as husband and wife after the agreement, and (8) there presented to others that they were married.”
Joplin v. Borusheski, 244 S.W.3d 607 (Tex. App. 2008).
· cites it 3× “Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (Vernon 2006); Lewis v.”
Lan Ngoc Nguyen v. Dinh Duc Nguyen, 355 S.W.3d 82 (Tex. App. 2011).
· cites it 2× “See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2). Whether an informal marriage is void due to the impediment of a prior marriage and whether a party failed to establish the necessary statutory elements for an informal marriage are two separate and independent bases for finding “no informal…”
Amaye v. Oravetz, 57 S.W.3d 581 (Tex. App. 2001).
· cites it 3× “Laws 4404 (recodified 1997) (current version at Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401 (Vernon 1998)).”
Lewis v. Anderson, 173 S.W.3d 556 (Tex. App. 2005).
· cites it 2× “Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (Vernon 1998).”
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(2) — 1 case
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(A)(2) — 1 case
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(a) — 16 cases
Assoun v. Gustafson, 493 S.W.3d 156 (Tex. App. 2016).
“Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401. A párty may prove these elements by circumstantial evidence.”
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(a)(1) — 3 cases
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(a)(2) — 74 cases
Smith v. Deneve, 285 S.W.3d 904 (Tex. App. 2009).
“Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (Vernon 2006).”
Small v. McMaster, 352 S.W.3d 280 (Tex. App. 2011).
“An informal or common-law marriage exists in Texas if the parties (1) agreed to be married, (2) lived together in Texas as husband and wife after the agreement, and (8) there presented to others that they were married.”
Lewis v. Anderson, 173 S.W.3d 556 (Tex. App. 2005).
“Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (Vernon 1998).”
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(a)(l)(2) — 1 case
Jasper v. State, 61 S.W.3d 413 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001).
“Tex. Fam.Code § 2.401(a)(l)(2) (Vernon 1998).”
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(b) — 12 cases
Joplin v. Borusheski, 244 S.W.3d 607 (Tex. App. 2008).
“Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2) (Vernon 2006); Lewis v.”
Amaye v. Oravetz, 57 S.W.3d 581 (Tex. App. 2001).
“Laws 4404 (recodified 1997) (current version at Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401 (Vernon 1998)).”
Ranolls v. Dewling, 223 F. Supp. 3d 613 (E.D. Tex. 2016).
“Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401. Hogan invokes the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell, issued on June 26, 2015, which granted same-sex couples the right to marry and to have lawful same-sex marriages recognized.”
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(c)(1) — 3 cases
— Tex. Fam. Code § 2.401(d) — 2 cases
Lan Ngoc Nguyen v. Dinh Duc Nguyen, 355 S.W.3d 82 (Tex. App. 2011).
“See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 2.401(a)(2). Whether an informal marriage is void due to the impediment of a prior marriage and whether a party failed to establish the necessary statutory elements for an informal marriage are two separate and independent bases for finding “no informal…”
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