Texas law puts no limit on how many times you can legally get married in Texas. You can marry twice, five times, or more, and the state will not stop you on the count alone. The only firm rule is that every previous marriage must be fully ended before the next one starts, and in most cases you have to wait 30 days after a divorce before marrying someone new.
The Only Real Limit: One Marriage at a Time
Nothing in the Texas Family Code caps the number of marriages a person can enter over a lifetime. What the law cares about is your status at the moment of the new ceremony. If a prior marriage is still legally in place, the next one cannot stand. If every prior marriage has ended, you are free to marry again.
How a Prior Marriage Has to End
Texas recognizes three ways a marriage legally ends.
Divorce
A court issues a decree dissolving the marriage. Once that decree is signed, both former spouses are legally single again, subject to the waiting period described below.
Annulment
An annulment treats the marriage as though it was never valid. Texas allows annulments on specific grounds, including that a spouse was under 18 and married without proper authorization, that a spouse was too intoxicated to consent, that the marriage involved fraud or coercion, or that one spouse concealed a recent divorce from the other.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code Chapter 6, Subchapter B – Grounds for Annulment Each ground carries its own deadline. An annulment based on a concealed divorce, for example, has to be filed within one year of the marriage.
Death of a Spouse
A spouse’s death ends the marriage automatically. No court action is required, and the surviving spouse can remarry.
Common-Law Marriage Counts
Texas recognizes informal, or common-law, marriage. If two people agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as spouses, and held themselves out to others as married, that relationship has the same legal weight as a ceremonial one. It also has to be formally dissolved through divorce before either person can marry someone else. People sometimes assume that because there was no wedding, there is nothing to end. That assumption can produce an unknowingly void second marriage.
The 30-Day Wait After a Divorce
This is the rule that trips people up. After a Texas divorce is finalized, neither former spouse can marry a new person for 30 days.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code 6.801 – Remarriage A marriage inside that window is voidable. The one built-in exception is that the former spouses can remarry each other immediately.
If you have a real reason to marry sooner, the court that granted the divorce can waive the 30-day restriction for good cause.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code 6.802 – Waiver of Prohibition Against Remarriage Without that waiver, the safe move is simply to wait out the 30 days.
Marrying While Still Married: Void and a Felony
A marriage entered into while either person is still legally married to someone else is void from the start. It has no legal standing.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code 6.202 – Marriage During Existence of Prior Marriage
Texas does provide one narrow cure. If the earlier marriage later ends through divorce or death, the void second marriage can become valid, but only if the couple keeps living together as spouses and representing themselves as married after that first marriage dissolves. A spouse who did not know about the prior marriage can block that cure by filing suit within 30 days of learning the truth.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code 6.202 – Marriage During Existence of Prior Marriage
The criminal side is more serious. Bigamy is a felony in Texas.5State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 25.01 – Bigamy A conviction can mean 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Prosecutors do not file these cases often, but the statute is not a relic. It gets used, particularly in fraud situations and cases involving multiple simultaneous marriages across state lines.
Standard Requirements That Apply Every Time
Each marriage, whether your first or your fifth, has to meet the same basic requirements. Both people must be at least 18, though a court can lift that for someone younger through a special order.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.101 – General Age Requirement You need a marriage license from any county clerk’s office in the state.7State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.001 – Marriage License After the license is issued, there is generally a 72-hour wait before the ceremony, waived if either person is on active military duty, if you completed a premarital education course, or if a judge grants a written waiver for good cause.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code 2.204 – 72-Hour Waiting Period; Exceptions
Texas also prohibits marriage between close relatives. A marriage is void if the parties are related as parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, siblings (including half-siblings and adopted siblings), or aunt or uncle and niece or nephew.9State of Texas. Texas Family Code 6.201 – Consanguinity First cousins are not on that list; Texas does not prohibit first-cousin marriages.
Meet those requirements, end each prior marriage, and respect the 30-day post-divorce wait, and the number itself is up to you.