Texas residents who are going through a divorce usually need to familiarize themselves with a number of legal terms as they sort through issues such as child custody, child support, alimony and property division. For property and debt division in particular, one key term is crucial: “community property.”
Dividing your assets
Texas is one of a small number of states in which “community property” rules the day when it comes to property and debt division. The most basic concept of this term is that, under Texas state law, any property acquired during the marriage by one or both of the spouses in the marriage is considered to be community property – and, therefore, part of the marital property that will need to be divided in the divorce case. There are few exceptions to that rule.
But, as it applies to your divorce case, a “community property” state such as Texas also takes a different approach to actually dividing a couple’s assets than most other states do. In a “community property” state like Texas, marital property must be divided equally between the soon-to-be ex-spouses. That isn’t the case in most other states, which take an “equitable division” approach to property division, in which all marital assets are divided in a way that is “fair” – which doesn’t always mean a 50/50 split in those states.
If you are going through a divorce in Texas, there are a number of legal terms you’ll need to educate yourself about. For more information about how we might be able to help, please visit the divorce overview section of our law firm’s website.
