common law marriage

[smirdule]

What is the name of your state? Ohio.
We were in a common law marriage in Texas. Now we moved to Ohio. This state does not recognize common law marriage. Will Ohio recognize us as informally married and thus treat us as married because we claimed marriage in another state?

 

[nextwife]

There's a simple way to make sure. . .

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Ohio.
We were in a common law marriage in Texas. Now we moved to Ohio. This state does not recognize common law marriage. Will Ohio recognize us as informally married and thus treat us as married because we claimed marriage in another state?

Many, and I would hazard to guess that most states that do not recognize common law marriage, will recognize a common law marriage from a state that does.

However, that assumes that Ohio is one of those states, and that assumes that you actually established a legal common law marriage in TX.

Many people who think that they are married at common law, are not. TX allows a common law marriage to be legally ratified by specific forms being filed at the courthouse, or by specific elements happening that determine a common law marriage. Simply living together is NOT enough.

Two of the biggest elements are holding yourself out to be married to the public, (ie allowing everyone to believe that you are married, including your "spouse" on your insurance at work, applying for credit as married etc.) and filing a joint tax return.

So, first you have to determine if you are truly common law married under the laws of TX, and then second, you have to find out if OH will recognize that common law marriage.

Both of those are going to take some serious research and/or consults with TX and OH attorneys.

 

[Ohiogal]

Ohio recognizes marriages from another state as long as those marriages are between one man and one woman. HOWEVER, do you have proof that you are common law married in Texas?

 

[smirdule]

Thank you all for the replies, and I kind of gess that we fulfill two requirements, except the one were it says that we had to agree. She never wanted to get married. We used the other two. Here's a twist. We did not start living together, just kept staying at each other's places till we moved. So I don't know wha tto make out of that. We presented ourselves as a couple, and we did finances together. I am afraid that it is questionable if we can claim that we were married in Texas as we did not live together.

 

[Ohiogal]

You were not common law married if she did not agree. Though if you filed a joint tax return then you committed tax fraud -- stick around for LD's view of that. But if she did not agree tha tyou were married how did she sign off on a joint tax return?

 

[mommyof4]

I'm just going to back Ohiogal up on this one. You're not married in any form of the word.

 

[smirdule]

The last thing I want is to commit tax fraud. We did not file tax return in Texas, just in Ohio. I think it means we were not married.

 

[smirdule]

Also, I have doubt that claiming that she did not want to marry means the same as saying that she did not agree to be married. Some people do not believe in marriage as an insitution itself.

 

[mommyof4]

You are not married.

Texas family code:

§ 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.

You say that you did not 'live together'...just stayed over with each other.

Here's a twist. We did not start living together, just kept staying at each other's places till we moved.


I am afraid that it is questionable if we can claim that we were married in Texas as we did not live together.

§ 2.402. DECLARATION AND REGISTRATION OF INFORMAL
MARRIAGE. (a) A declaration of informal marriage must be signed
on a form prescribed by the bureau of vital statistics and provided
by the county clerk. Each party to the declaration shall provide
the information required in the form.
(b) The declaration form must contain:
(1) a heading entitled "Declaration and Registration
of Informal Marriage, ___________ County, Texas";
(2) spaces for each party's full name, including the
woman's maiden surname, address, date of birth, place of birth,
including city, county, and state, and social security number, if
any;
(3) a space for indicating the type of document
tendered by each party as proof of age and identity;
(4) printed boxes for each party to check "true" or
"false" in response to the following statement: "The other party
is not related to me as:
(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
adoption;
(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
blood or by adoption;
(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or
half blood or by adoption;
(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
the whole or half blood or by adoption;
(E) a current or former stepchild or stepparent;
or
(F) a son or daughter of a parent's brother or
sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption.";
(5) a printed declaration and oath reading: "I
SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR AFFIRM) THAT WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, ARE MARRIED TO
EACH OTHER BY VIRTUE OF THE FOLLOWING FACTS: ON OR ABOUT (DATE) WE
AGREED TO BE MARRIED, AND AFTER THAT DATE WE LIVED TOGETHER AS
HUSBAND AND WIFE AND IN THIS STATE WE REPRESENTED TO OTHERS THAT WE
WERE MARRIED. SINCE THE DATE OF MARRIAGE TO THE OTHER PARTY I HAVE
NOT BEEN MARRIED TO ANY OTHER PERSON. THIS DECLARATION IS TRUE AND
THE INFORMATION IN IT WHICH I HAVE GIVEN IS CORRECT.";
(6) spaces immediately below the printed declaration
and oath for the parties' signatures; and
(7) a certificate of the county clerk that the parties
made the declaration and oath and the place and date it was made.
(c) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1362, § 4, eff.
Sept. 1, 1997.

She flat out said she doesn't want to be married. She may not agree with marriage as an institution. That's fine and her choice. Nothing wrong with that. I give her points for standing by her convictions.

Being in a monogamous relationship in which you spend the night together is not a marriage.

 

[smirdule]

Thank you for such a good reply. I read the statute before, but it was not as clear to me as it is now. I think you just solved my case.

 

[mommyof4]

Thank you for such a good reply. I read the statute before, but it was not as clear to me as it is now. I think you just solved my case.

Glad I could help you out. You're very welcome.

 

[LdiJ]

You were not common law married if she did not agree. Though if you filed a joint tax return then you committed tax fraud -- stick around for LD's view of that. But if she did not agree tha tyou were married how did she sign off on a joint tax return?

Yep, that one is a serious problem. What's more, it can't be fixed without admitting that you committed tax fraud. The law doesn't allow joint returns to be amended into separate returns past the April 15th deadline for the applicable tax year. Therefore you would have to admit that you were not married in order to get the IRS to allow the amendment. Fraud penalties can be as much as 75% of the tax due.