Texas Divorce Property Law

If you have lived in Texas for six months and are a resident for 90 days in the county where you are filing the suit, the residency requirements for Texas have been met and you are able to file for a divorce in Texas. Texas follows community property laws, which means if you and your spouse are not able to come to an agreement in dividing up the community property amicably on your own, the court will divide all community property up equally between both of you.

Community Property

Community property is property you or your spouse obtained while married. It does not matter who has the property at the time of divorce, or whose name is on the deed, title or account. In a community property state, all property acquired during a marriage belongs equally to both you and your spouse. Even if you and you spouse keep separate bank accounts and make purchases using your own funds, at the time of your divorce these accounts and purchases made from them, are considered community property.

Separate Property

There are some types of property that Texas law does not consider to be community property. This includes, money given to you as an inheritance, money received from a personal injury during your marriage, or property you owned prior to getting married. These items are called separate property and do not fall under the 50/50 community law split. So at the time of your divorce, separate property or assets do not have to be divided equally.

Ownership

Unless proven otherwise, the law assumes all property and assets in a marriage are community property. At the time of your divorce, separate property rights must be proven. This can be done by producing evidence that the date the property was received as a gift or purchased was prior to the date of your marriage. However if you had a monetary asset prior to the marriage and you deposit it into a joint account, the account is looked at as community property as it no longer is feasible to separate whose dollars were spent on which items.

Division of Community Property

Although community property is considered joint, and generally equal division occurs, the court may divide community property based on what they feel is fair. They may consider factors such your earnings in comparison to your spouse's, the type of property being divided and whether one of you were at fault for the divorce. In these situations, the court may decide to divide up your community property based on what they feel is reasonable, which does not have to translate into equal, or 50/50.

Valuation

When community property consists of physical, tangible items, the value of your community property is based on the amount the items would sell for if they were put up for sale on the day of your divorce. It is the dollar amount they could be sold for, not the amount it would cost to replace the item. This is how community property is valued and the figure used when splitting property up to ensure each spouse receives an equal or 50/50 split to the assets being divided.

References

• Divorce Source: State Divorce Laws: Texas
• Law Offices of Raggio & Raggio: Texas Marital Property Issues