How The Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Decision Will Impact Texas Couples

This article discusses the major impact that the Obergefell decision will have on Texas same-sex couples.  The State of Texas uses a community property system where assets accumulated during the marriage are dived evenly.  Texas also recognizes common law marriages (informal marriages).  If a couple agreed to be married, lived together as a married couple, and represented to others that they were married then the elements of a common law marriage in Texas are met.  The question many lawyers and same-sex spouses are asking is whether this common law marriage rule will apply to same-sex relationships that were formed before the Supreme Court decision.  This would have a huge impact on how the same-sex couple’s property is distributed. 

See J. Daryl Hinze, How The ‘Obergefell’ Decision Affects Texas Same-Sex Couples and Everyone Who Practices Law, Texas Lawyer, October 5, 2015.