Marriage Flashcards
Marriage License Requirement
- required
- will expire after 90 days if a marriage ceremony has not been conducted
- 72 hour waiting period between issuance of the license and the date of the marriage
- Must wait 30 days after divorce to re-marry
Can a person under 18 get married?
Only if the court has removed that party’s disability (minor status) for general purposes
Discrimination by those conducting ceremony
A person authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony is prohibited from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin against any applicants who are otherwise qualified to be married
Violation can lead to removal of their job
Same-Sex Marriage
Law passed by TX leg, that allows clergy and religious organizations to not participate in same-sex marriage
TX AG has opined that judges, county clerks, and other gov officials may refuse to issue a same-sex marriage license or marry couples if doing so would violate their sincerely held religious beliefs- but only if they are able to delegate the task to another qualified individual
- Common Law Marriage
Requirements
- agreed- agreement to be married
- cohabitation- lived together as spouses in TX
- holding out- represented to other that they were married `(more than mere introductions; things like signing mortgages and reputation in the community)
Presumption of informal marriage: If an action to prove a common law marriage is not brought within 2 years after the parties separate, a presumption arises that the parties had not agreed to be married
*Deceleration of Informal Marriage
parties can execute a “Declaration of Informal Marriage”
Not a requirement, but a permissible method of proving an already established informal marriage
Must be in writing and sworn
*When common law marriage not possible
if there is an impediment to the marriage (e.g. age, married to another person, etc.)
if impediment is removed (e.g. party turned 18, spouse got divorce from another party) then can be CL marriage if the elements are met
Presumption against Common Law Marriage
If an action to prove a common law marriage is not brought within 2 years after the parties separate, a presumption arises that the parties had not agreed to be married
Validity of Marriage
Validity of Marriage
Void Marriages
- Consanguinity- marrying a relative
- Bigamy- already being married
- Party under 18
- Suit to declare marriage void
Children of a void marriage will still be marital children
Bigamy
Void marriage
If two marriages are alleged, the most recent is presumed to be valid
Voidable Marriages
done through a suit to annul
- A voidable marriage is not subject to challenge after death of eight party, unless it is alleged that the decedent did not have sufficient mental capacity to consent to marriage
- Besides cases where marriage was within the 72 hour waiting period, a party cannot bring suit to annul the marriage if the petitioner has voluntarily cohabited with the other party after the situation was discovered
Voidable Marriages: Grounds to bring suit to annul
- at the time of marriage the petitioner was drunk or on drugs and did not have the capacity to consent
- the other party used fraud, duress, or force to induce the petitioner to enter the marriage
- permanent impotency
- Mental Incapacity
- Concealed divorce within 30 days of the marriage (suit must be brought w/in 1 year)
- Marriage less than 72 house after issuance of license (suit must be brought w/in 30 days)
- Post-death action to annul marriage- lack of capacity to marry (marriage must have taken place w/in 3 years of person’s death and action filed w/in 1 year of death)
Duty to support
Each spouse has a duty to support her minor children and the other spouse
Each spouse is liable for the other spouse’s contracts for necessaries
