Cardwell v. Cardwell

195 S.W.3d 856 (2006)

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Cardwell v. Cardwell

Texas Court of Appeals
195 S.W.3d 856 (2006)

  • Written by Liz Nakamura, JD

Facts

In 1985, Sharon Cardwell (defendant) married Bruce Gay. Sharon left Gay in 1986. Gay told Sharon that he would take care of the divorce. In 1995, Sharon married Donald Cardwell (plaintiff) without confirming that her divorce from Gay had been finalized. In 1999, Sharon discovered that she was still married to Gay and initiated divorce proceedings. The divorce was finalized in December 1999. Donald filed for divorce from Sharon in 2003. Sharon filed a counter-petition arguing that she and Donald had a putative marriage from their wedding in 1995 until Sharon discovered in 1999 that she was still married to Gay. The trial court denied Sharon’s petition, holding that Sharon was not a putative spouse because she did not take any reasonable steps to confirm that her divorce from Gay was finalized before marrying Donald and therefore did not enter the putative marriage to Donald in good faith. The trial court ruled that Sharon and Donald were common-law married as of December 1999, when Sharon’s divorce from Gay was finalized, and divided their separate and community property accordingly. Sharon appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Fitzgerald, J.)

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