Texas House bill by Rep. Dutton clarifies validity of later marriages and voids certain decrees

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. aims to clarify when a later marriage becomes valid after a prior marriage ends and seeks to allow putative spouses to challenge void decrees, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 54 Democrats and 74 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 10 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 10 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, while one Democrat voted against it.

Harold Dutton Jr. introduced the bill in the Texas House on Wednesday, Jan. 29, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Dutton graduated from Texas Southern University in 1991 with a BBA and again in 1996 from Thurgood Marshall School of Law with a JD.

Dutton, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State House in 1985 to represent the state’s 142nd House district, replacing previous state representative El Franco Lee.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to certain void marriages’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, the bill amends Section 6.202(b) of the Texas Family Code to clarify conditions under which a later marriage—initially void due to an existing prior marriage—becomes valid. This occurs if the prior marriage is dissolved and the parties represent themselves as married. Additionally, a putative spouse unaware of the other party’s existing marriage at the time of their marriage may file a suit to declare the later marriage void within two years of discovering the prior marriage. The bill also adds Subchapter E to Chapter 9 of the Family Code, stating that a divorce or annulment decree is void if the court lacked jurisdiction. A putative spouse can file to declare such decrees void. The act is effective immediately upon a two-thirds vote in both houses, or on Sept. 1, 2025, if the vote threshold is not met.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Thursday, May 29, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.