Most states today do not permit common law marriages. There remain nine that do (including Texas) and five others that permit them if they occurred before a certain date. All states, however, recognize a common law marriage if it occurred validly in another state. What is a common law marriage? In order to common law married, a man and a woman have to meet three requirements in Texas: They have to agree to be married They have to hold themselves out as married (for example, introduce each other as husband and wife, file joint taxes, or the woman taking the man’s last name) They have to live together in Texas husband and wife The requirements are simple, but they have to be met in order to qualify a couple as common law married. In other words, just living together or having a child together do not change a relationship into a common law marriage. Children or the length of the relationship do not factor into the determination. How common law couples divorce Once common law married, the marriage is the same as if the couple had gone through a formal ceremony. Other states will recognize the marriage as a regular…
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You can appeal your final divorce decree, but an appeal is not as simple as saying that you do not approve of the outcome. In order to prevail, you have to show errors during the original process – perhaps the judge incorrectly applied some aspect of family law or there was fraud or another impropriety of some sort on the part of your ex-spouse. These may be reasons to throw out the original decree and order a retrial. The appeal process is an entirely new ball game, so to speak. Indeed many attorneys work exclusively doing appeals because of the different laws, rules and procedures that govern the 14 appellate courts in Texas and its Supreme Court. If you have a reason to appeal your original divorce decree, act quickly, as you typically need to file your appeal within 30 days of the trial judge’s signing your original decree. Winning an appeal is difficult. You have to show errors at the lower level, and even when you can show an error, appellate judges can overlook the error if it was harmless. Their preference is to defer to the judgment of the trial judge, who had the chance to hear all…
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The impending Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt marriage involved at least one broken promise – the one Pitt had made repeatedly to the gay community that he and Jolie would marry only when everyone were able to marry. Indeed, before their engagement, the tabloids and their fans assumed that the two would never marry for this very reason. Pitt told Esquire magazine of his stance back in the fall of 2006. He reiterated it again in 2009 to Parade and then to People last summer. He donated $100,000 in opposition to California’s Proposition 8, which sought to overturn the state Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. While Pitt may have caved to marriage pressure from his and Jolie’s children, his support of same-sex marriage has not changed, as he continues to campaign for sex-sex marriage throughout the country. The past year has seen a number of developments in this area of family law, and several important cases are currently spending in courts throughout the country, including here in Texas, where the Supreme Court will rule on two cases in the coming months that will determine whether Texas recognizes same-sex divorce. Several of the developments in same-sex family law in recent months…
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Should Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt use a prenup for their forthcoming marriage? There is no doubt that, given the amount of money and assets involved, the two have a lot at stake. Both are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Pitt regularly commands $10-30 million per movie. He has also produced a number of hit movies through his production company, Plan B. Jolie also earns several million per movie and has turned towards directing of late, producing the 2011 Bosnian War movie In the Land of Blood and Honey. The couple also took in a reported $15 million from People Magazine for photos of their twins Knox and Vivienne. Jolie and Pitt prenup is likely In short, each is worth a lot of money. Unlike some celebrity marriages, theirs is not one where it is clear that one spouse is worth substantially more than the other and that a prenuptial agreement is something that the wealthier spouse may want to consider. But given the sheer wealth involved (nearly a quarter of a billion dollars) and the complex nature of their family – three adopted children and three natural children – Jolie and Pitt will almost assuredly use a prenup….
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