Declaration and Registration of Informal Marriage in Texas

To file a Declaration and Registration of Informal Marriage in Texas, both partners go together to any county clerk’s office in the state, sign the state-prescribed form under oath, and pay the recording fee. The clerk records the document and forwards the original to the bureau of vital statistics. You’re not required to file to be legally married under Texas common law rules, but the recorded declaration proves the marriage the same way a marriage license proves a ceremonial one.¹

Who Can File

Only couples who already meet the requirements for an informal marriage can register one. Three things have to be true at the same time: both people presently agree they are married (not that they will marry someday), they live together in Texas after making that agreement, and they hold themselves out to others as married.¹ Holding out looks like introducing each other as spouses, filing joint tax returns, or listing a spouse on insurance or loan paperwork.

Both people also need the legal capacity to marry. Each must be at least 18, and neither can already be married to someone else.¹ Certain close relatives cannot marry each other: parents and children, siblings (full or half-blood), aunts or uncles with nieces or nephews, stepparents and stepchildren, and first cousins.² Same-sex couples qualify on the same terms and can use any date applicable to their relationship as the marriage date, including a date before 2015.³

If either of you was divorced within the last 30 days, Texas generally bars remarriage until the 31st day after the decree.⁴ If a judge waived that wait, bring a certified copy of the decree.

What the Form Asks For

You can pick up the declaration at any county clerk’s office or download it from the Texas Department of State Health Services.⁵ Both parties fill in:

Full legal name, including maiden surname if applicable
Current address, date of birth, and place of birth (city, county, and state)
Social Security number, if you have one
The approximate date you agreed you were married, which becomes the official start date of the marriage

You’ll also each check boxes confirming the other person is not a prohibited relative.² Bring a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or military ID.

Filing at the County Clerk’s Office

Both people have to appear together in person at the clerk’s office. You can use any Texas county, not just the one you live in. The clerk administers an oath and both parties sign. The oath printed on the form states that the two of you agreed to be married on or about the date given, lived together afterward, and represented to others that you were married.²

The clerk then executes a certificate on the document, records it in the county’s public records, and sends the original to the bureau of vital statistics. You can request certified copies for your files.

What It Costs

The base state fee is $25.⁶ Most counties add records management, preservation, archive, and technology surcharges, which typically brings the total to around $45 to $47. Call the clerk’s office ahead of time to confirm the exact amount and whether they take cash, check, or card.

Why Register Instead of Just Living As Married

Meeting the three elements already makes you married. The registration exists to save you from having to prove it later. Once recorded, the declaration serves as direct proof of the marriage in any legal, administrative, or other proceeding.¹ Without it, proving the marriage after a spouse’s death or a breakup can mean collecting witness testimony, digging up old tax returns, and convincing a court.

The stakes get sharper if you separate. When a couple stops living together without ever registering, and no legal proceeding to prove the marriage begins within two years of the separation, Texas law presumes the couple never agreed to be married.¹ The presumption is rebuttable, meaning you can still fight it with strong evidence, but the burden falls on you. A recorded declaration removes that fight entirely.

Federal Benefits That Follow a Recognized Informal Marriage

A valid Texas informal marriage carries the same weight as a ceremonial one for federal purposes, and a filed declaration is the cleanest evidence to hand over.

The IRS treats a couple in a recognized common law marriage as married for tax filing, so you can file jointly or married filing separately, and that status follows you if you later move to a state that doesn’t allow new informal marriages.⁷

The Social Security Administration recognizes common law marriages from states where they’re valid, which matters when a surviving spouse applies for benefits. Without a filed declaration, the SSA will ask for sworn statements and corroborating records to establish the marriage.⁸

Federal regulations also define “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act to include a person in a common law marriage entered into in a state that recognizes such marriages, so you can take FMLA leave for your informally married spouse.⁹

Ending the Marriage Still Requires a Divorce

One point catches people off guard. Registering makes ending the marriage harder, not easier, because an informal marriage (registered or not) can only be dissolved through a formal divorce in a Texas court. You cannot end it by moving apart. Property division, spousal support, custody, and child support are all decided the same way as in any other divorce.¹⁰ The benefit of the registration is that no one gets to argue the marriage never existed.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 2.401 – Proof of Informal Marriage
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 2.402 – Declaration and Registration of Informal Marriage
3
TexasLawHelp. Same-Sex Common Law Marriage in Texas
4
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 6.801 – Remarriage After Divorce or Annulment
5
Texas Department of State Health Services. Declaration and Registration of Informal Marriage
6
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code Section 118.011 – Fee Schedule
7
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2013-17
8
Social Security Administration. Development of Common-Law (Non-Ceremonial) Marriages
9
Federal Register. Definition of Spouse Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
10
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 7.001 – General Rule of Property Division