Can a Facebook Post Make You Married? Common Law Marriage in Texas, Explained
Maybe Facebook invented the “it’s complicated” status for exactly this reason. In a recent Texas appeal, Curtis v. Laplante, one of the questions was whether a social media post about the couple’s relationship helped prove they were common law married. The court’s answer: a post alone isn’t enough, especially when the two people clearly didn’t agree on what their relationship even was.
It’s a funny case with a very unfunny lesson: in Texas, two people can end up legally married without a ring, a ceremony, or a courthouse, and unwinding it looks a lot like a divorce.
The three elements of informal marriage in Texas
Under Texas Family Code § 2.401, a common law (formally, “informal”) marriage exists when all three of these are true at the same time:
- 1. The couple agreed to be married: a present agreement, not “someday” or “if things work out.”
- 2. They lived together in Texas as spouses after that agreement.
- 3. They represented to others that they were married: the “holding out” element.
What counts as “holding out”?
No single fact decides it. Courts look at the whole picture, and the classic evidence includes:
- Introducing each other as husband or wife.
- Filing joint tax returns as married.
- Signing leases, loans, or insurance paperwork as spouses.
- Using the same last name.
- Listing each other as “spouse” on benefits or beneficiary forms.
A single social media post, like a single introduction at a party, usually isn’t enough by itself. But stack that post on top of joint tax returns and an apartment lease signed as spouses, and the picture changes. Context is everything, and so is consistency: courts notice when someone claims “married” for the insurance discount and “single” for the IRS.
Why this matters more than people think
- Property: if a couple was informally married, everything acquired during the marriage is community property, and splitting up means a real divorce with a real property division.
- Timing: under § 2.401(b), if a couple separates and no one files to prove the marriage within two years, the law presumes there was never an agreement to be married. That deadline sneaks up on people.
- Death: informal marriage questions show up in probate court constantly, when a surviving partner claims a spouse’s share of the estate.
The takeaway
The couples who avoid this mess are the ones who are clear with each other, and consistent with the world, about what their relationship is. In our experience, the people with the most at stake are the ones leaving a long-term relationship where finances, a home, and a “married” story to the world were all shared. Whether that history adds up to an informal marriage is a fact-intensive question, and it’s exactly the kind of question a family law attorney evaluates case by case. Sometimes it reveals more protection than a person expected, and sometimes more exposure.
Avalos Family Trial Attorneys advocates for single moms across Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin, and we practice what we post: educate, empathize, empower. Anyone who wants to discuss their own situation with an attorney can schedule a consultation through our website. 💚
Schedule a ConsultationThis article is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Avalos Family Trial Attorneys does not represent readers of this blog, and reading this post does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every family and every case is different; nothing here is a prediction or recommendation for any specific situation.
