What is the difference between community property and separate property?
Community Property There are nine community property states – Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.These states generally regard as community property all property that has been acquired during the marriage, other than a gift or inheritance. Even if one spouse earns all the money to acquire the property, all the property acquired is considered to be community property. While there are a number of differences in each state, all states have special laws that operate on the theory that both spouses contribute equally to the marriage; thus all property acquired during the marriage is the result of the combined efforts of both spouses. In community property jurisdictions, spouses equally own all community property (fifty percent owned by the husband and fifty percent owned by the wife). Separate Property Separate property is the property that each spouse brings into the marriage, that is, the property that s/he owned before the marriage.
A. Texas is a “community property” state. Under Texas community property law, all property which is owned by either spouse is presumed to be community property unless it is separate property. Generally, separate property is property either (1) owned or acquired by a spouse before marriage, or (2) acquired by a spouse during marriage by gift, bequest, or inheritance. Generally, income from all property owned by either spouse is community property (although a marital or premarital agreement can dictate otherwise).
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