How Texas courts decide common law marriage cases. Detailed guide to the documentary, financial, witness, and behavioral evidence that actually wins informal marriage cases in Houston, Harris County, and Fort Bend County.

Texas Family Code Section 2.401(b) creates a 2-year rebuttable presumption against common law marriage if no proceeding is filed within two years of separation. Learn how the rule works, when the clock starts, and why timing matters for Houston-area couples.

Step-by-step guide to filing a Declaration of Informal Marriage in Harris County, Texas. Covers eligibility, required documents, the Houston filing process, and what changes after filing under Texas Family Code Section 2.402.

To win a medical malpractice case, you must prove four elements: duty of care, breach of the standard of care, causation, and damages. Each element requires strong evidence, often including expert testimony, to show that a provider’s negligence directly caused measurable harm.

Calculating damages in a Texas contract dispute focuses on compensating the injured party for actual losses. This includes direct damages, lost profits, reliance, consequential, and incidental damages, all limited by foreseeability and the duty to mitigate, ensuring recovery reflects the true financial impact of the breach.

Dividing executive compensation in a Texas divorce requires careful tax analysis. Assets like stock options, RSUs, and deferred compensation carry hidden tax liabilities that can shift true value. Without proper planning under IRC rules and Texas law, a seemingly equal settlement may result in significantly unequal after-tax outcomes.

You can update a prenuptial agreement after marriage in Texas by creating a valid postnuptial agreement. This requires a written, voluntary contract with full financial disclosure and fair terms. Postnups help reflect major life changes like business growth, inheritance, or shifting financial roles within the marriage.

Proving self-dealing by corporate insiders requires showing a conflicted transaction, lack of proper disclosure or approval, and unfairness to the corporation. Evidence often includes financial records, contracts, and expert analysis, while Texas law may shift the burden to insiders to prove the transaction was fair.

In Texas, spousal maintenance duration depends on the length of the marriage, with maximum limits ranging from five to ten years. Courts typically award the shortest period necessary for financial independence, though long-term marriages and special circumstances may justify extended or even indefinite support.

Corporate waste in Texas occurs when a company exchanges assets for consideration so inadequate that no reasonable businessperson would approve it. Unlike ordinary bad decisions, waste claims overcome the business judgment rule and are typically pursued through derivative lawsuits to recover misused corporate resources.