Community property laws are still alive and well in Texas

January 24, 2018

While most states use the principles of equitable division, Texas still follows the rules of community property. This means that if you live in McKinney and you intend to divorce, you should find out everything you can about the community property laws and how they might affect your settlement.

The following overview on Texas community property laws can provide you with some useful information. The more you know about how marital property laws can impact your future, the better prepared you will be once you finalize the divorce.

Community property defined

In general, community property is anything that you and your husband purchased during the course of your marriage. In a pure community property situation, you and your husband would split this property in half as a result of divorce. If you have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, this might supersede the normal community property division.

Inception of title rule

As mentioned above, community property laws normally require that a divorcing couple split everything evenly. However, it is possible that not all property will receive this treatment. Courts will often invoke the inception of title rule to determine how to handle a specific piece of property. For example, if you purchased an interest in an oil well in West Texas before your marriage, the court might rule that the property should completely revert back to you. Even if you shared the income from the investment with your husband, the court could decide that the property should revert to you in full.

Separate property

Some property is not subject to division and is separate from community property. Separate property usually includes items such as birthday gifts, inheritances, family heirlooms and any property that you purchased prior to the marriage.

If you are planning to divorce, it is important that you understand how community property laws can affect how the court divides marital property. This will help you through the divorce process so that you can work toward a fair settlement.