Texas Legal Glossary · Family Law

Just and Right Division

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

Definition: Just and right division is the Texas standard under Family Code § 7.001 requiring a divorce court to divide the community estate in a manner it deems fair, with due regard for each spouse and any children, and it does not require an equal split.

Also called: equitable division, disproportionate division

What just and right division means in Texas

A just and right division is what Texas Family Code § 7.001 commands. In a decree of divorce the court shall order a division of the estate of the parties in a manner that the court deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage. The statute says nothing about equal shares. It gives the trial judge broad discretion.

The estate being divided is the community estate only. Separate property is confirmed to its owner and stays out of the division.

How it works in practice

The Texas Supreme Court in Murff v. Murff, 615 S.W.2d 696 (Tex. 1981), listed factors a judge may weigh when deciding whether to depart from an even split. They include the spouses’ capacities and abilities, benefits the innocent spouse would have received had the marriage continued, business opportunities, education, relative physical and financial conditions, disparity of ages, the size of each separate estate, the nature of the property, and fault in the breakup of the marriage.

In practice, most Travis County judges start near 50/50 and move from there when the evidence justifies it. A 55/45 or 60/40 split in favor of a lower earning spouse is common. Larger departures need a record to support them. Waste of community assets can also be addressed through a fraud on the community finding.

Why it matters in your case

The standard shapes how a case is built. A spouse seeking a disproportionate share has to put on evidence of the Murff factors, not just ask. A spouse defending against one needs to answer that evidence. Because the trial court’s discretion is wide, appellate courts rarely reverse a division unless it is manifestly unfair. That makes the trial record, or the mediated deal, close to final.

Example

Carla and Jerome divorce after 22 years. Jerome earns $210,000 as an engineer. Carla left the workforce to raise their children and now earns $38,000. Jerome also has a $300,000 separate estate from an inheritance. The judge awards Carla 58 percent of the community estate, citing the earning gap and the size of Jerome’s separate property. Under § 7.001 and Murff, that division is within the court’s discretion.

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.