San Antonio, TX asked in Identity Theft and Divorce for Texas

Q: Four and a half years ago my best friend of 4 years and boyfriend and I decided to have a common law marriage,

We went to the Court annex and he didn't tell me he didn't have an idea and he actually had a ticket warrant and so we couldn't get a regular marriage license. So we decided to use a common law marriage. We both announced on our Facebook pages. He introduced me to all of the neighbors and his wife and he put me on his health insurance at work. Soon after that I started bleeding out bad. He drove me to the hospital gave them the insurance information left me. When they got me stabilized 3 days later and if you have surgery he killed our dog and called me and told me about it so they had to delay my surgery again because I was having a nervous breakdown. I ended up staying in the hospital for a month three surgeries and nearly lost my life. In that process he moved in two women and moved me out. Luckily I had a friend that came and stayed at the hospital with me alive. When I went to try to retrieve my clothes and paperwork my birth certificate and social security card were gone the girl

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2 Lawyer Answers
John Michael Frick
John Michael Frick
Answered
  • Frisco, TX
  • Licensed in Texas

A: If you chose to record a declaration of common law marriage instead of getting a marriage license, you can and should file for divorce under the circumstances you describe. You have two years from the date you stopped living together as spouses to file. From your description, that sounds like it may have been when he dropped you off at the hospital.

If he disposed of your personal belongings under the circumstances you describe, the divorce court may compensate you by awarding you other community property of equal or greater value, may award you a disproportionate share of your community property, and may require reconstitution of your community estate by your husband for the property he gave away.

Incidentally, a ticket warrant would not have prevented you from getting a marriage license. If he told you that, he was lying to you.

Penny Wymyczak-White agrees with this answer

Penny Wymyczak-White
Penny Wymyczak-White
Answered
  • Houston, TX
  • Licensed in Texas

A: If it has been less than two years since you separated file for divorce, You will need to order a new birth certificate and ss card,

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