Relating to the confidentiality of certain information on a declaration of informal marriage.
LowStandard timeline
Low Cost
Effective:2025-06-20
Enforcing Agencies
County Clerks (Texas) • Department of State Health Services (Vital Statistics Unit)
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date:June 20, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Compliance Deadline:June 20, 2025. Your intake and verification teams must be prepared to handle redacted records immediately.
Agency Rulemaking: The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) must update the Texas Electronic Vital Events Registrar (TxEVER) system immediately to accommodate the new confidentiality checkbox. No public comment period is required for this technical change.
Immediate Action Plan
1.Update Document Checklists: Immediately add "Certified Copy of Declaration of Informal Marriage" to client-responsibility lists for loans and background screenings effective June 20, 2025.
2.Revise Authorization Forms: Amend client release forms to include specific "Legal Representative" language regarding vital records.
3.Notify Risk Management: Alert your risk officers that "false positive" matches on background checks will increase due to the lack of DOB/Address identifiers in public indices.
4.Secure Legacy Data: Ensure your IT teams do not purge historical marriage data; records filed prior to June 20, 2025, remain public and are valuable for future cross-referencing.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Third-Party Data Vendors: Review Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with background check and data aggregation providers. Vendors can no longer guarantee 100% verification of informal marriage filings using public scraping methods.
Client Authorizations: Update standard "Authorization to Release Information" forms. You must explicitly designate your entity as the client's "Legal Representative for the limited purpose of obtaining vital statistics records" to attempt to bypass clerk restrictions.
Hiring/Training
Intake Staff: Train loan processors and title officers to stop relying on county websites for verification. They must shift the burden of proof to the client.
Protocol Shift: Staff must be instructed that a "name match" on a background check without PII is insufficient for identity verification and requires the client to produce a certified copy of the Declaration.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Document Retention: You must permanently retain the certified copy of the Declaration of Informal Marriage provided by the client at closing or intake. Re-acquiring this document for audit or foreclosure purposes will be legally difficult and time-consuming as the County Clerk will deny direct requests.
Database Management: Update internal databases to accept "Redacted" or "Null" values for Date of Birth and Address fields regarding Texas marriage records to prevent validation errors.
Fees & Costs
Operational Friction: While government filing fees remain unchanged, anticipate increased operational costs related to manual document retrieval from clients and potential delays in title clearance.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
Definition of "Legal Representative": The statute permits release to a "legal representative" but fails to define the term.
*Risk:* County Clerks have broad discretion. Some may accept a standard lender Power of Attorney; others may strictly require an attorney of record. Expect inconsistent application across Texas's 254 counties.
Bulk Data Feeds: It is currently undefined whether DSHS will redact PII from bulk data sales to commercial aggregators (e.g., LexisNexis) for *all* records or only those specifically marked confidential.
*Risk:* If DSHS applies a blanket redaction for efficiency, the quality of all third-party background checks regarding Texas marital status will degrade immediately.
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Information presented is for general knowledge only and is provided without warranty, express or implied. Consult qualified government affairs professionals and legal counsel before making compliance decisions.
The bill author has informed the committee that when an individual applies for a declaration of an informal marriage, personal information such as the applicant's full name, address, and county of residence and the last four digits of the applicant's social security number are subsequently available for public viewing online through the county clerk's office. This poses privacy and safety risks, particularly for individuals who have experienced family violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. C.S.H.B. 1193 seeks to address this issue by allowing either applicant for a declaration of informal marriage to request that their identifying information remain confidential.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1193 amends the Family Code to require a declaration of informal marriage form to contain a printed box for either named party to the declaration to check indicating a preference to keep identifying information on the form confidential. The bill prohibits a county clerk, if a party to a declaration of informal marriage has checked the box on the declaration, from doing the following:
·publicly publishing the personally identifying information of either party, other than the names of the parties; or
·releasing a copy of the declaration that includes such identifying information to anyone other than a party named on the declaration or the party's legal representative.
C.S.H.B. 1193 amends the Health and Safety Code to prohibit the vital statistics unit in the Department of State Health Services, if a party to a declaration of informal marriage has checked the box on the declaration, from furnishing any personally identifying information on record relating to the marriage, other than the names of the parties to the marriage, to anyone other than a party to the marriage or the party's legal representative.
C.S.H.B. 1193 applies only to a declaration of an informal marriage executed on or after the bill's effective date. A declaration executed before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the declaration was executed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2025.
COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1193 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
The introduced and the substitute both require a declaration of informal marriage form to contain a printed box that a named party to the declaration may check to indicate their preference to keep identifying information on the form confidential and establish certain restrictions on the publication, release, or furnishment of such information if a party checks that box. However, the versions differ in the following ways:
·the introduced conditioned that confidentiality option on either named party being or having been a victim of family violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, which the substitute does not do; and
·the substitute does not include provisions from the introduced that also required a marriage license application form to contain a printed box that an applicant may check to indicate their preference to keep identifying information on the form confidential if either applicant is or has been such a victim and restricted the publication, release, or furnishment of such information if that box is checked in the same manner provided for an informal marriage declaration.
Honorable Jeff Leach, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1193 by Manuel (Relating to the confidentiality of certain information on a marriage license, an application for a marriage license, and a declaration of informal marriage.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
When a marriage application is filed in a county office, the form is sent to the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) through the Texas Electronic Vital Events Registrar (TxEVER) system. DSHS indicates that the agency would incur some additional one-time costs required by the software vendor for modifications to TxEVER to add the checkbox to the marriage module and for additional DSHS information technology staff augmentation time to implement changes including user acceptance testing, deploying changes to production, and verifying changes.
It is assumed that any costs associated with the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
537 State Health Services, Department of
LBB Staff:
JMc, KDw, ER, APA
Related Legislation
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Effective June 20, 2025, Texas law fundamentally alters the transparency of public records for Declarations of Informal Marriage ("Common Law" marriage). HB1193 mandates that County Clerks redact Personally Identifiable Information (PII)—specifically addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers—upon the applicant's request, leaving only names visible to the public. This legislation eliminates the ability of lenders, title companies, and background screeners to independently verify the identity of parties in an informal marriage without direct cooperation from the consumer.
Q
Who authored HB1193?
HB1193 was authored by Texas Representative Christian Manuel during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB1193 signed into law?
HB1193 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB1193?
HB1193 is enforced by County Clerks (Texas) and Department of State Health Services (Vital Statistics Unit).
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB1193?
The compliance urgency for HB1193 is rated as "low". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB1193?
The cost impact of HB1193 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB1193 address?
HB1193 addresses topics including county government, county government--general, family, family--family violence and family--marriage relationship.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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