Fact Pattern:

Jane McDonald brought suit to establish an informal or common-law marriage to John Bon Jovi, and for a divorce and property division. John contends the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support that Jane was informally married to John.

Jane and John met on Christmas Day, December 25, 1990. Shortly after that, they began dating. Jane testified that one year after they met, on December 25, 1991, she and John agreed to be married. According to Jane, she and John celebrated Christmas with their adult children that day at the home they shared in Gotham City, Texas. They exchanged gifts, and Jane gave John a ring she had custom-made for him as a wedding band. After their families left, Jane testified, John suggested they have a private "ceremony" and exchange rings. According to Jane, John promised that he would wear her ring and regard himself as her husband until they were married in a church. This testimony is some direct evidence of an agreement to be married.

Additionally, other witnesses testified that they were told of the ceremony. A former housekeeper, Mary Mazzola, testified that John told her about the marriage ceremony. Juana Fitzpatrick, a good friend of Jane's, testified that Jane told her that she and John had "committed to each other" and exchanged rings. Metta Foster, another friend of Jane's, testified that John and Jane told her they had a "private ceremony" in which they agreed to be married, and she saw their wedding rings. Ronald McDonald, Jane's son, testified that he once asked John when he was going to marry his mother, and John said he had already married Jane in "their own ceremony."

Turning to the contrary evidence, John testified that he was never Jane's husband and never referred to himself as such, and he denied that he and Jane had a private ceremony in 1991 in which they agreed to be married. John also testified that the ring Jane gave him was a Christmas gift, not a wedding ring, but he admits he wore it for many years. John denied he told Ronald McDonald that there had been a wedding ceremony. John also points to a 1994 Christmas card in which Jane wrote "before this life is over, I hope you'll ask me to be your wife." That same year, Jane wrote John a letter about another woman, stating "Why don't you give up and marry her? You have ten days to give me an answer. I want to marry you and stop the bullshit." John asserts that these statements show Jane did not believe that she was married to John. When questioned about these statements, however, Jane testified that she was not giving John a deadline to marry her, but to "get married in a church and do it the right way with all of our family" and that John knew what she meant.

John concedes "there is no question regarding living together at various times from 1991 through 1997," but argues the evidence is legally and factually insufficient that he and Jane lived together as man and wife, "especially since there was no agreement to be married." John concedes that he and Jane lived together during the relevant time.

Jane contends multiple witnesses, including members of her family, her friends, and acquaintances testified that she and John would introduce or refer to each other as "husband" and "wife" or that Jane and John told others that they were married. There was also testimony that John would refer to Jane as his wife, and that Jane referred to herself as "Mrs. Bon Jovi" in his presence and he did not object. All of these witnesses were Jane's. Conversely, John denied that he was Jane's husband or referred to himself as such. And he presented a number of witnesses, in addition to himself, who testified that John never told them he and Jane were married, they never heard John or Jane refer to themselves as husband or wife, and they never heard Jane refer to herself as "Mrs. Bon Jovi." These witnesses, similar to Jane's, included John's family members, friends, and acquaintances.

Thus, the evidence concerning how John and Jane represented themselves to family, friends, and acquaintances was conflicting. Here, all of the witnesses who testified to the representations were Jane's; none of John's witnesses admitted to hearing John make any such representations. And all of Jane's evidence came from her personal circle of acquaintances whose testimony provides little, if any, indication of John and Jane's reputation in the community. There is no testimony that John and Jane had a reputation in the wider community as being married.

Jane presented testimony that John would sometimes refer to Jane as his wife to unidentified telephone callers at their home or to people in church. However, Jane admitted that she did not register for or receive wedding gifts, and she did not send any letters, emails, or announcements about being married. Even though she and John would host large parties at their home in Gotham City, Texas, they never threw a party to celebrate their marriage. Jane did not change her last name to Bon Jovi after the ceremony or establish any joint bank accounts with John. Jane also admitted that she "probably" never told her neighbors who lived across the street from the Gotham City house that she and John were married. Although Jane testified that John took out a life-insurance policy and named her as the beneficiary, she acknowledged that she never had a copy of the policy. She also did not know if John ever changed his will to reflect that she was his wife. Jane admitted that she has no documents in which she referred to John as her husband.

Jane also admitted that she filed her federal income taxes as "single" every year since 1991. She likewise applied for auto insurance as "single" and acknowledged that if she applied for a credit card she would have represented on the application that she was single. She testified that she did so to comply with John's request that she never fill out any document as "married" because he was angry with the federal government and wanted to "get out of the system" to avoid paying taxes. Jane contends she credibly testified to facts showing that John wanted to "conceal the fact of his marriage, not to deny its existence." Even after Jane filed this lawsuit to establish an informal marriage and for divorce, she continued to claim that she was "single" on her federal-income-tax form. She also never revealed to any of the certified public accountants she employed to prepare her returns that she was married.

Other major events in John's life also did not reflect Jane was his spouse. When John's son Bob was married in 1992, not long after Jane testified she and John were married, the wedding invitations did not name Jane as John's spouse; instead, only the name "John Bon Jovi" appears under the heading "Father of the Groom." The next year, John's other son, Bill, passed away. At the funeral service, Jane did not sign the memorial book as one of the family members with John; instead, Jane signed under the general "Relatives and Friends" section of the book.

Response Instructions:

This is a Texas Case. Only apply Texas law to this fact pattern.

Address each of the three elements for an informal or common law marriage in Texas in separate paragraphs.

Analyze each element with the given facts.

Does Jane meet her burden on each element?

Does Jane meet her burden as the proponent to an informal marriage?

Make sure that you list the element. Support your response with facts from the fact pattern and explain your response in detail for each element.

Finally, answer whether you believe that Jane and John were married informally.