## Facts

- Wife married Bruce Gay in 1984 or 1985 and separated from him in 1986.
- Wife later married Virgil Hill in 1988 and divorced him in 1992.
- Husband and Wife participated in a ceremonial marriage in 1995 while Wife was still legally married to Gay because no divorce decree had been entered.
- Wife relied on Gay’s statement that he would “take care of the divorce,” but she made no effort to verify the legal status of that marriage before marrying Husband.
- In 1999, Wife discovered she had never been divorced from Gay; with Husband’s assistance, she filed for divorce from Gay, which became final on December 7, 1999.
- The parties separated in 2003 and filed competing divorce pleadings.
- The trial court rejected Wife’s claim of a putative marriage from 1995 to December 7, 1999, finding Wife did not enter the relationship in good faith.
- The trial court found the parties had a common-law marriage as of December 7, 1999 and divided the parties’ property.
- Wife cross-appealed the putative-marriage ruling; Husband appealed two aspects of the property division.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court erred by refusing to find a putative marriage between the 1995 ceremony and December 7, 1999 based on lack of Wife’s good faith.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion under Tex. Fam. Code § 7.001 in the challenged aspects of its “just and right” property division.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the trial court’s finding that no putative marriage existed because Wife did not act in good faith when entering the 1995 ceremonial marriage while still married to Gay.
- The court upheld the trial court’s determination that a common-law marriage existed as of December 7, 1999.
- The court rejected Husband’s property-division complaints and held the division was within the trial court’s discretion.
- The judgment was affirmed in full.

## Legal Principles

- A putative marriage is an invalid marriage entered into in good faith by at least one party, despite an existing legal impediment; a good-faith putative spouse may receive property rights as if lawfully married.
- Good faith for putative-spouse status is a fact question; a trial court may find lack of good faith where a party fails to make any effort to determine whether a prior marriage has been dissolved.
- In a divorce, the trial court must divide the marital estate in a “just and right” manner under Tex. Fam. Code § 7.001.
- Appellate review of property division is for abuse of discretion; the division will be upheld if supported by evidence and within a reasonable range of outcomes.

## Conclusion

The court held that Wife’s failure to verify the dissolution of her prior marriage supported a finding of no good faith and therefore no putative marriage; it also affirmed the trial court’s common-law marriage date and property division because no abuse of discretion was shown.


Cardwell v. Cardwell, 195 S.W.3d 856 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006, no pet.)