Texas is a Community Property State

From time to time, you may here this phrase: Texas is a community property state. What does that mean? It means that everything acquired during a marriage is considered property of the community or marital estate. This includes assets and debt, regardless of whose name is associated with it. For example, even if a credit card has only your name on it, all debt on that card is community property and all community property is subject to division in a divorce.
Contrary to community property, separate property is any property purchased or owned by one party prior to the marriage. But if you think you have separate property in a divorce, you must prove it is not community property.

With regard to community property, there is a statutory "rebuttable presumption" in the Texas Family Code that all property and debt in either spouse's name is considered community property and thus divisible in a divorce. A rebuttable presumption means the person who claims the very opposite of the presumption has the burden to prove his point. For example, if a spouse owned a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro prior to marriage, he or she must prove that the car is not community property thus subject to division in divorce and should remain his or her separate property. This means the spouse must prove he or she purchased the car before the marriage and that is was not purchased during the marriage.

Other items considered separate property, so long as it is proven, is a gift to one spouse and an inheritance to one spouse. As an example, if the husband's father gave the husband, and the husband only, the 1968 Camaro during the marriage, it is the husband's separate property.  Further, if the husband's father died while the husband was married and the Camaro was given to the husband from the father's will, it would also be the husband's separate property and not to be divided in a divorce.

Ami J. Decker
www.famlawtex.com