What is Considered Community Property During a Divorce?
When a married couple gets divorced, one of the most complicated parts of the process is dividing up the marital assets and debts. In Texas, the law assumes that most property acquired during the marriage is “community property.” Community property is property owned jointly by both spouses. Understanding what constitutes community property and how it gets divided in a divorce is crucial to keeping the peace during any divorce.
As Fort Worth divorce lawyers, we’ve seen it all and are here to tell you what actually constitutes community property during a divorce.
What Is Community Property?
Community property refers to assets acquired by either spouse during the marriage.
Community property is an umbrella term for a wide range of assets. Let’s get into some of the most common items considered “community.”
Income from Jobs and Money in the Bank
Even though you work hard for your money, anything you earn during your marriage or put in a shared bank account during a marriage is community property.
If you have a prenuptial agreement in place, however, this is a smart way around having to divide income in a way that could be deemed unfair for one spouse in the divorce.
Retirement Accounts and Pensions
Retirement accounts, 401Ks, and pensions racked up during the marriage are all considered community property.
Real Estate
Houses and business property you and your spouse purchased together must be divided as equally as possible.
This level of community property also applies to any business you and your spouse started at any point in your marriage.
Items Purchased with Shared Money
This is mostly anything material you and your spouse bought during your marriage. It can include cars, jewelry, furniture, tools, and even clothing.
The key defining factor is that community property is obtained after the couple wed. Anything owned by one spouse prior to the marriage is considered separate property and is not divided in a divorce.
What is Separate Property?
When marital property division is involved in a divorce, separate property owned by one spouse prior to marriage is not considered communal.
Separate property is owned by the spouse and is not party to fair and just division.
If one spouse owned a home before the wedding, it stays their separate property in a divorce.
An inheritance acquired by one partner is separate property.
Businesses started, and assets acquired before the marriage are also separate property.
Co-mingling separate property can make it marital property, however. If separate funds are mixed into joint accounts, used to improve community assets, or given as a gift to the other spouse, separate property can become communal.
What About Debt?
While most people would love to hand off their debt to a spouse that wronged them, the truth is that debts also get classified as individual or communal.
Typically, joint debts acquired during the marriage are shared, while those brought into the marriage stay separate.
Dividing Your Community Property
The division of property is not always right down the middle. In some cases, a judge may divide assets equitably but not exactly equally.
Factors like length of marriage, income, age, and health issues can lead to a different distribution in the interest of fairness.
Fort Worth Lawyer for Community Property Division
Dividing community property during a divorce can be complex, especially when a couple has built up substantial assets over the years.
It’s important to understand what constitutes community property and how it will get divided from your Fort Worth divorce lawyer.
Before you even consider what counts as communal assets in your marriage, seek guidance from an experienced divorce attorney in Tarrant County like Nilsson Legal Group.
Our divorce lawyers can help ensure property is classified correctly and divided in a fair manner in accordance with state laws.
With our help, you can ensure fair and just division of your community property while minimizing conflicts. Schedule your free consultation today.