Graham, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

Yes, a spouse can sign a power of attorney authorizing someone else to take care of any matters the spouse could personally do, as long as they mentally competent, regardless of whether they are incarcerated or not.  A spouse does not have "a right to everything" if the other spouse is incarcerated.  Spouses often own community property which is subject to their joint control.  A spouse signing a power of attorney does not negate the other spouse's rights with respect to joint management community property.  Spouses often also own property that is one spouse's separate property or is the sole management community property of one spouse.  A power of attorney signed by a spouse can give the attorney-in-fact named in the POA the authority to control the separate property and the sole management community property of the spouse that signed the POA.

Texas Family code (which is the binding law but no the Texas Constitution) 2.401 provides the elements of proof of an informal marriage. If you agreed to be married, lived together as husband and wife in Texas, and represented to others that you were married, then you are married. If this woman has remarried without divorcing you, her second marriage is invalid. There's a burden of proof here, though - you have to prove each element - the initial agreement to marry and the representing to others that you are married ("holding out") has to be open and public - saying you are married sometimes and other times not might not cut it. And lastly, why would you care.

The answer to your question depends on what state you live in. If you live in Georgia, then a divorce must address an equitable division of marital property. Marital property is generally that property which was acquired during the course of the marriage. Obviously one asset may have a marital portion and a nonmarital portion. Your situation will have to be resolved either by agreement or by trial.