## Facts

- In 2000, Jilverto Martinez began dating Martha Lopez while Martinez was still married to another woman; Lopez was pregnant with A.L., a child from a prior relationship.
- Martinez’s divorce became final in June 2001.
- In July 2001, Lopez gave birth to Martinez’s child, G.M., and Martinez, Lopez, A.L., and G.M. began living together.
- Martinez and Lopez had a second child together, J.M., in 2002.
- Martinez and Lopez lived together with the three children until March 2008, when they separated.
- In May 2008, G.M. began living with Martinez.
- Martinez later filed a suit affecting the parent–child relationship seeking custody/visitation regarding J.M.
- Lopez answered and counterpetitioned for divorce, alleging that she and Martinez were informally (common-law) married; Martinez denied any marriage existed.
- At a bench trial, Lopez testified that she and Martinez presented themselves as husband and wife to friends and relatives and that Martinez represented to his friends and family that she was his wife.
- Lopez testified Martinez financially supported the household while she handled domestic chores and childcare, and they raised the children as father and mother.
- Lopez testified they shopped together for a truck, property, and a trailer, though her name did not appear on any titles; she acknowledged, “He never named me on anything of his.”
- Lopez testified Martinez claimed A.L., G.M., and J.M. as dependents on his tax return and filed as head of household.
- Lopez also admitted Martinez told her he was not her husband, tried to avoid passing as her husband, and did not view or treat her as his wife; Lopez testified she nonetheless felt like Martinez’s wife.
- Martinez did not testify that he ever agreed to be married to Lopez and did not contradict Lopez’s testimony about how they held themselves out to others.
- The trial court found an informal marriage existed and granted a divorce with related child-custody and support orders; Martinez appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the trial court’s finding of an informal marriage under Texas Family Code § 2.401(a)(2), given Lopez’s admissions that Martinez said he was not her husband and was careful not to pass as her husband.

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment.
- The evidence was legally sufficient to support each element of informal marriage, including agreement inferred from conduct and evidence of “holding out.”
- The evidence was factually sufficient; conflicts in Lopez’s testimony and competing inferences were for the trial court to resolve in a bench trial.

## Legal Principles

- An informal marriage under Texas Family Code § 2.401(a)(2) requires proof that the parties (1) agreed to be married, (2) lived together in Texas as spouses after the agreement, and (3) represented to others that they were married.
- The agreement element may be proved by direct evidence or inferred from the parties’ conduct, including cohabitation and representations to others.
- “Holding out” may be shown by testimony and conduct demonstrating the couple had a reputation for being married; spoken words are not required if actions communicate marital status.
- Legal-sufficiency review asks whether the record contains more than a scintilla of evidence supporting the challenged finding when viewed in the light most favorable to the finding.
- Factual-sufficiency review considers all the evidence and reverses only if the finding is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust.
- In a bench trial, the trial court is the factfinder and decides credibility and the weight of the evidence; an appellate court defers to those determinations when supported by the record.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed the informal-marriage finding because Lopez’s testimony that she introduced Martinez as her husband and that he represented her as his wife to friends and family—combined with years of cohabitation and family life—permitted the trial court to infer an agreement to be married and to find consistent holding out, and the trial court was entitled to resolve any tension created by Lopez’s admissions that Martinez sometimes denied being her husband.


Martinez v. Lopez, 2011 WL 2112806 (2011)