This question has been addressed in 1 Texas court opinion:
COA14 — February 3, 2026
After the death of George Knapp, Terry Mooneyham sought to establish that the two had shared an informal (common-law) marriage for seventeen years. Knapp’s estate argued there was no evidence of a specific agreement to be married and successfully moved for summary judgment to dismiss the claim. The Court of Appeals reversed this decision, analyzing Texas Family Code § 2.401(a)(2) and holding that a claimant’s own affidavit asserting a direct agreement to be married constitutes sufficient evidence to survive a pretrial dismissal. The court clarified that whether such testimony is 'self-serving' is a matter of credibility for a jury to decide at trial, rather than a reason for a judge to throw out the case early.
Litigation Takeaway
“In common-law marriage litigation, a claimant's sworn testimony that a specific agreement to marry existed is legally sufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment, shifting the focus from pretrial dismissal to the credibility of the witnesses at trial.”