What did the Texas Supreme Court hold in Estate of Claveria v. Claveria, 615 S.W.2d 164 (Tex. 1981), about the termination of a common-law marriage?
Once a common-law marriage has been established, it can only be terminated by death or a court decree such as divorce. The court emphasized that the existence of the marriage does not depend on continued acknowledgment by the spouses. This means that once the elements of a common-law marriage are met—agreement to be married, cohabitation, and holding out to others as married—the legal relationship is binding, and later denials or changes of mind do not invalidate it.
Cite: Estate of Claveria v. Claveria, 615 S.W.2d 164 (Tex. 1981).