HB 1193 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the confidentiality of certain information on a declaration of informal marriage.

HB 1193 amends Texas Family Code to add confidentiality protections for individuals filing declarations of informal marriage (common-law marriage). If a party checks the "keep identifying information confidential" box on the declaration form, county clerks must not publicly publish or share personal details like addresses, birthplaces, or social security numbers - only the parties' names can be disclosed. This directly affects Texans who establish informal marriages without a formal ceremony by giving them control over sensitive personal information. The bill becomes effective September 1, 2025.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

May 2025

Signed into Law

Jun 2025

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Signed Jun 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed → Enrolled · 3 edits · Jun 20, 2025

MINOR

This bill updates Texas law to protect the privacy of individuals who declare informal marriages. It adds confidentiality protections for personal information on marriage declaration forms and restricts access to vital statistics records for these marriages. The changes ensure that sensitive details like addresses, birthplaces, and social security numbers are kept private unless the parties consent.

Scope change

The bill applies to declarations of informal marriage executed on or after the effective date (September 1, 2025).

REQUIREMENT

Added new Section 2.406 to the Family Code requiring county clerks to keep personally identifying information confidential when parties check a privacy box on their informal marriage declaration forms.

Added Section 194.004(c) to the Health and Safety Code prohibiting the vital statistics unit from sharing personally identifying information about informal marriages with anyone other than the parties or their legal representatives.

TECHNICAL

Updated the declaration form requirements to include a checkbox option for parties to request confidentiality of their identifying information.

Floor votes · House May 1, 2025

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 20, 2025

Signed into law

Signed by the Governor

executive

May 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Signed in the Senate

upper

May 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Signed in the House

lower

May 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

Senate passage reported

lower

May 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

May 15, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee report printed and distributed

upper

May 15, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably w/o amendments

upper

May 14, 2025

Upper · Passed

Vote taken in committee

upper

May 5, 2025

Committee

Referred to Jurisprudence

upper

May 5, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

May 5, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment

lower

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

Recalled from subcommittee

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in subcommittee

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Committee

Referred to s/c on Family & Fiduciary Relationships by Speaker

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

4 primary · 0 co-sponsors