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Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
6 replies
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DoninGA

Level 15

Texas is a common law state.
How have you defined your relationship? Do you consider yourselves as married and are husband and wife?

Hal_Al

Level 15

How have you been filing for the last 8 years? Are the children the biological or adopted children of your partner?

Opus 17

Level 15

So, in Texas, common law marriage is defined as

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. There are three elements of a common law marriage according to Texas law. Per Chapter 2.401 of the Texas Family Code, you must have all three parts in order to have a common law marriage.

You have "agreed to be married."
You have "lived together in this state as husband and wife."
You have "represented to others" that you are married.

Represented to others means, you tell other people you are married, rather than saying "boyfriend" or "fiancee" or "partner", but actually say "this is my spouse" or "this is my husband or wife" when talking to neighbors, friends, banks or other businesses that you have relationships with, etc.

If you do not meet the conditions for common law marriage, then you are single, and you file as single. One of you could possibly file as head of household if you have a qualifying person, usually a child dependent.

If you do not meet the conditions for common law marriage now, but you want to get married, you just have to agree, and tell someone else. Then you could file as married filing jointly. However, a common law marriage has the same legal force as a church marriage--you have to do everything in your life from now on as if you are legally married (because you are) and you can't split up without a full legal divorce.

Hal_Al

Level 15

You may be able to file as Married Filing Jointly if you live in a state that recognizes common law marriage. Currently, the following jurisdictions recognize common law marriage:

Alabama (if entered into before 1-1-2017)

Colorado

District of Columbia

Iowa

Kansas

Montana

New Hampshire

Oklahoma

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Texas

Utah

Alabama (2017), Georgia(1997), Idaho(1996), Ohio(Oct. 1991), and Pennsylvania(2005) are grandfathered for the marriages before the year indicated. Living together in a common law state is usually insufficient - you need to hold yourself out as married including owning property together, having joint bank accounts, etc. To find out your state’s rules see:

http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/common-law-marriage-states.html

Texas Roger

Level 15

This comment repeats most of what Opus17 has already stated in his answer. Is there some part of it that you don't understand? Have you followed the 3 parts in Opus17's answer that are required for you to be common law married?

If you have followed them and consider yourself common law married, then you must file either married filing jointly or married filing separately. It is almost always better to file jointly than separately. Texas is a community property state which makes filing a married filing separately tax return somewhat complicated. You are not required to submit the document for informal marriage to the county clerk to be considered common law married.

If you have not followed the 3 parts to be common law married, then you each must file single or if eligible, one of you could file as head of household and the other as single.

Once you are married (common law or otherwise), you must adhere to all the laws for married couples including community property laws. You must get a legal divorce if you choose to no longer be married.