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Texas. Respondent's position is that their "common law" marriage
does not comport with the requirements of the statute.
Section 2.401 of the Texas Family Code provides a three part
conjunctive test to determine if a man and a woman are in a valid
"common law" marriage. The third part of the "common law" test
requires the couple to hold themselves out to others as though
they were married. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. sec. 2.401 (Vernon 2002).
In McChesney v. Johnson, 79 S.W.2d 658, 659 (Tex. Civ. App. 1934)
the court stated that "the agreement is fundamental and
cohabitation is an element, but the holding out to the public as
being man and wife is the acid test." A couple's conduct and
actions alone are sufficient to satisfy this element; whereas
spoken words are not necessary to establish marital status.
Winfield v. Renfro, 821 S.W.2d 640, 648 (Tex. App. 1991). When
questioned by respondent's counsel whether she held herself out
to others as being married to petitioner, Ms. Huff testified that
she did not hold herself out to third parties, or tell anyone,
that she and petitioner were married.
The Court finds, therefore, that petitioner was not married,
common law or otherwise, to Ms. Huff in 2000. As a result, the
Court also finds that Ashton and Marquin, for purposes of section
32, were not petitioner's stepchildren. Because petitioner has
not established that Ashton or Marquin met the relationship test
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