Division of Community Property
Texas is a community property state.
What this means is that assets and debts you and your spouse acquire during marriage are community property.
There are 3 exceptions to this:
1. Anything you inherit during the marriage is your separate property
2. Anything you are gifted during the marriage is your separate property
3. Compensation you may have received during the marriage for personal injuries due to a car wreck, etc is your separate property.
Property you owned prior to marriage is also your separate property.
The reason that the classification of property is important at the time of divorce is because a Court may not divest you of your separate property.
Example:
If you have a 401(k) that you started funding prior to the marriage, then the amount you had in your 401(k) account as of the date of your marriage would be your separate property.
At the time of divorce, a couple may agree to divide their community property estate any way they want to. If they can't agree, then a Court will divide the community property in a manner that is just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage. This does not automatically mean that the property will be divided 50% to wife and 50% to husband. Fault in the break-up of the marriage such as adultery, abandonment and other factors may or may not increase a spouse's share of the community property.
We have all heard stories about spouses litigating or going to Court because one of them thinks they should get a great deal more of the community property.
Caution:
I caution you to think long and hard before litigating. In many cases, spouses will spend more in total litigation costs/attorney fees than the amount they are seeking to recover. If you want to litigate, you must look at your financial resources and decide if it is worth it.