Hi guys, Welcome to the Advanced Video Search Engine, and you are watching Proving Common Law Marriage in Texas. That video is uploaded by J. Michael Young: Estate and Life Insurance Lawyer at 2021-12-23T08:30:46-08:00. We are promoting this video only for entertainment and educational purpose only. So, I hope you like & enjoy it. [0nDBY1CKtlI]
| Name | Proving Common Law Marriage in Texas |
| Video Uploader | Video From J. Michael Young: Estate and Life Insurance Lawyer |
| Upload Date | This Video Uploaded At 23-12-2021 16:30:46 |
| Video Discription | Estate litigation lawyer J. Michael Young (903) 892-9133 (800) 323 - 1857 myoung@somlaw.net A very common issue in a contested estate is a claim of common law marriage. Someone claims to be a spouse of the decedent. If they are a spouse it would entitle them to certain assets and legal rights. A common misconception is that a common law marriage is not the same in effect as a traditional civil ceremony marriage.. People call me and say “Mike we weren't married but we had a common-law marriage”. Or “my brother wasn't married to that woman but they were common law.” But a common law marriage is a marriage under Texas law. It has the same legal force and effect as a marriage that was established where you would go to a justice of the peace or a priest or a minister and have a formal ceremony with a marriage license. It's the same effect. The difference is establishing the proof of marriage. If you get a marriage license and you have a civil ceremony and the documents are signed, that is formal proof of the marriage. Nothing else needs to be established. With a common law marriage there are certain elements that have to be met before you can prove the marriage. But once it's proven it is the same as a formal civil marriage. What are the elements of a common law marriage? It is that the couple: agreed to be married.; they lived together as husband and wife. and they represented to others in the community generally as husband and wife. It is this last element that is the most important, because that is the one that is most disputed. It is typically not difficult to prove an agreement, particularly when one of the couple has passed away. The surviving person testifies that they agreed to be married. And it is usually not difficult to prove that they live together. But plenty of people who are not married live together. Therefore, the fight typically then becomes over whether they represented themselves generally in the community as husband and wife. That is what lawyers call a fact-intensive determination. When I am representing someone who's trying to establish a common law marriage claim, I will get declarations from people who knew them to affirm they were understood to be married. I also look to see if they filed taxes as a married couple, whether they listed themselves as married on health care applications or applications to the doctor or as next of kin. Those types of things would provide essential proof. Conversely, if I am representing somebody who's opposing that claim we would also get declarations from friends and family, people in the community who knew them to say that they did not refer to themselves as husband and wife. That requires a substantial amount of work. It requires a lawyer who is familiar with the elements and who has handled those types of claims to evaluate that and to go get the evidence regarding the claim. Typically if you do a pretty good job of getting that evidence if you're supporting a claim then you can survive summary judgment and have a court find that it's a fact issue.. It would then go to a trial to determine whether or not there was a marriage. If you are involved in an estate in which the common law marriage is an issue feel free to give me a call. 0nDBY1CKtlI |
| Category | Education |
| Tags | Proving Common Law Marriage in Texas | proving common law marriage in texas | divorce | family law | lawyer | Estate litigation lawyer J. Michael Young |
