Question:
Can a fifteen-year-old in Texas become emancipated by entering into a common-law marriage?
Answer:
No. Texas law sets firm limits on who can enter into a common-law marriage. In Kingery v. Hintz, the court ruled that a fifteen-year-old girl could not form a valid common-law marriage under Texas Family Code § 2.401(c). That statute bars minors from such unions. Because the law blocks the marriage, the girl did not gain the legal rights of an adult. She remained a child in the eyes of the law. Emancipation through marriage only works if the marriage itself is legal. If the law won’t recognize the marriage, then it won’t recognize any adult status flowing from it.