Texas Legal Glossary · Family Law

Community Property

Written and reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founder of SMB Law, PC · Licensed in Texas since 2003 · Updated October 2026

Definition: Community property is all property either spouse acquires during a Texas marriage, other than separate property, and Texas law presumes everything owned at divorce is community unless a spouse proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.

Also called: marital property, community estate

What community property means in Texas

Community property is defined in Texas Family Code § 3.002 as the property, other than separate property, acquired by either spouse during marriage. The definition is broad on purpose. Wages, retirement contributions, a business started after the wedding, the house bought in year three, and the credit card balance run up in year nine all fall inside it. Who earned the money or whose name is on the title does not change its character.

Section 3.003 adds the community presumption: property possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution of marriage is presumed to be community property. A spouse who claims an asset is separate property carries the burden of proving it by clear and convincing evidence, a higher standard than the usual preponderance.

How it works in practice

In a divorce the court can only divide the community estate. It has no power to award one spouse’s separate property to the other. So the first fight in most property cases is characterization: sorting every asset and debt into the community or separate column. Bank records and closing statements do most of the work. When separate and community funds have been mixed, the issue becomes commingling and tracing.

Once the community estate is identified, the court divides it under the just and right standard in § 7.001. That division does not have to be equal.

Why it matters in your case

Characterization sets the size of the pie before anyone talks about how to slice it. A spouse who cannot document the separate character of an inheritance usually watches it get treated as community. Titles mislead people: a car titled only in one spouse’s name is still community if it was bought with paychecks earned during the marriage. We spend a great deal of early case time on the sworn inventory and appraisement because the characterization decisions made there drive everything that follows.

Example

Dana and Luis married in 2015. Luis opened a brokerage account in 2018 funded entirely from his salary. At divorce he argues the account is his because only his name is on it. Under § 3.002 the account is community property, and under § 3.003 the court presumes so. It goes into the divisible estate.

This entry explains Texas law in general terms and is not legal advice for any specific situation. Statutes and case law change; the date above reflects the last review.