Common Law Marriage - FAQ's

If a common law husband leaves his wife, is she entitled to receive support from him?

Yes.  The Texas Family Code places a duty on each spouse to support the other.  If one spouse leaves and refuses to provide support, he or she is liable to any person who provides necessaries to the remaining spouse.  Necessaries are such things as food, clothing and shelter.  In a divorce action, this duty may extend to paying the other spouse’s attorney’s fees which Texas case law defines as necessaries.

Generally, one person cannot be held liable for the debts of another person unless there is a written agreement to that effect.  However, the courts have held that the support obligation is not a debt but an obligation that arises out of the status of the parties.  While the marriage relationship alone does not make one spouse the general agent of the other , it does give an unsupported spouse the agency to purchase and contract for necessaries for which the other spouse will be liable.

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