Texas Legal Glossary · Family Law

Reimbursement Claim

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

Definition: A reimbursement claim is a request in a Texas divorce under Family Code § 3.402 asking the court to compensate one marital estate for funds or labor it contributed to benefit another estate, such as community money paid toward one spouse’s separate mortgage.

Also called: claim for reimbursement, equitable reimbursement

What a reimbursement claim means in Texas

A reimbursement claim arises when one marital estate pays for something that benefits a different marital estate. Texas recognizes three estates in a marriage: the community estate, the husband’s separate estate, and the wife’s separate estate. When money or effort flows from one to another without repayment, Texas Family Code § 3.402 allows the contributing estate to be made whole, in whole or in part, at divorce.

The statute lists common situations. They include payment by one estate of another estate’s unsecured debt, payment of principal on a debt secured by a lien on another estate’s property, and capital improvements to another estate’s property. It also covers inadequate compensation of a spouse whose time, toil, and talent built up a separately owned business.

How it works in practice

Reimbursement is an equitable remedy. The court weighs the benefit to one estate against the benefit the contributing estate received in return, and it may apply offsets. If community funds paid down a separate mortgage but the family lived in the house rent free, the court can reduce the claim by the value of that use. Interest and tax payments on a separate mortgage are generally not reimbursable.

The claim is proven with the same records used in tracing: mortgage histories, bank statements, invoices for improvements. For improvements, the measure is the enhancement in value to the benefited property, not the dollars spent. A $60,000 kitchen remodel that raised the appraised value by $25,000 supports a $25,000 claim.

Why it matters in your case

Reimbursement is often the fallback when a separate property claim fails for lack of tracing, or when community money was poured into an asset that can never become community. The remedy is a money judgment or an offset in the just and right division, not a share of the property itself. Because the court has discretion over the amount, these claims are usually resolved in mediation.

Example

Tomas owned a condo before marrying Renee. During the marriage, the couple paid the condo mortgage from their joint paychecks and reduced the principal by $70,000. At divorce the condo remains Tomas’s separate property. The community estate has a reimbursement claim under § 3.402 for the $70,000 in principal reduction, subject to any offset the court finds appropriate.

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.