So are we legally married or not...?

This has been bugging me for while but I haven't done anything yet about it. My husband and I were married in the courthouse in the summer of 1996, by the Judge/justice of the peace. We went through all the usual stuff applying for and obtaining the appliacation for a marriage license, and I have the marriage certificate right here in front of me, signed by the Justice of the Peace. We were under the impression (given to us by the judge) that after the ceremony was completed and we took our vows, etc., and the marriage certificate was handed to us in it's neat little white folder with gold lettering, that any other paperwork/filing would be done from there and we had done all we needed to do.

Well, about six months later we received a notice in the mail, something along the lines of "Our records show that you applied for a marriage license on such and such a date but no certificate was ever returned to us for filing..."

Honestly at this point we were very caught up in a traumatic bunch of bull and didn't give this too much though. After all, we *got* married, we felt married, we live as a married couple... but that was 4 years ago and it's pretty clear that we won't *STAY* married forever. I need to know how to find out if we're really legally married at all? And, if not, how will this affect things if we split up, with regard to child support, custody, taxes we filed as a married couple, debts, etc.?

We are in TX, btw. Thanks if anyone can help.

x

[This message has been edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE (edited October 14, 2000).]