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

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.