Question:
What burden of proof must a party meet to challenge the validity of a marriage presumed valid under Texas law?
Answer:
In Fuentes v. Zaragoza, 555 S.W.3d 141 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2018, pet. denied), the court reaffirmed that Texas law presumes every marriage is valid, including those performed outside the state. To challenge this presumption, the party must provide clear and convincing evidence that the marriage is invalid. In this case, Miguel Zaragoza claimed he had divorced Evangelina in Mexico decades earlier and had remarried. However, he failed to present sufficient evidence of the prior divorce or subsequent marriage during the trial. As a result, the court upheld the presumption of a valid marriage between Miguel and Evangelina, emphasizing that mere assertions without substantive proof are inadequate to overcome the legal presumption of marriage validity.