Divorce and Selling Your Home – What’s Community Property?

Today we are talking about another aspect of our tips for selling a home during a divorce. If you are getting a divorce in the state of Texas, whether or not you plan to sell the house, the first thing you need to do is decide how to divide your property and assets.

What Is Community Property?

In Texas, we have something called community property. The state considers anything acquired during the marriage as community property. Married couples share community property belongings equally.

Again, community property is defined as anything acquired during the marriage and includes things such as 401k, stocks, bonds, rental property, or furniture.

When you are getting a divorce, the best thing you can do is work with your spouse to determine who will get what. Even though both people have an equal claim of many items, it doesn’t necessarily mean everything will be divided equally.

Many times the court will look at who is at fault for the divorce and who is the primary “breadwinner”. They also consider which parent becomes the primary caretaker of any children. All of these factors help determine how a court divides community property in a divorce.

What Is Separate Property?

Separate property includes anything acquired before marriage, but sometimes also includes inherited property, gifted items, gifted property, personal injury claims, and anything you buy and deed as sole and separate property while married.

Below, we explore each of these separate property items.

1. Inherited Property

If one spouse inherits a property solely in their name, it is considered separate property by the state of Texas.

2. Gifted Item or Property

If one spouse is gifted an item from the other, such as wedding rings or watches, for example, it is separate property.

3. Personal Injury Claims

Was one spouse injured during the marriage and receive a claim? In this case, the property and future awards belong solely to the injured party that received the claim.

 4. Anything You Buy and Deed as Sole and Separate Property

When married, it’s still possible to buy something and seem it sole and separate property.

However, both parties must agree that the item was purchased separately and solely for one spouse.

For more information regarding how to sell your house quickly in a divorce, check out our other posts on the topic, or call us for a no-obligation quote on your Texas house.

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