Texas is a community property state.
The word community in community property refers to the marital community; the marriage between you and your spouse. If you are not married, you do not have any community property. You only have separate property.
Community property is all property acquired during the marriage except property acquired by inheritance or by gift. Community property does not include property that you owned before the marriage or property that you acquire during the marriage by inheritance or by gift.
All property is presumed to be community property. If someone claims that certain property is their separate property, they have the burden of proof to prove that it is separate and not community. If they don’t meet that burden, the property is community property no matter how or when it was acquired. Proving real estate is separate property is easy. Proving that money is separate property is not as easy.
Contested probate issues involving community property include but are not limited to: how and when property was acquired; whether income from separate property is community property; whether separate property has been so comingled with community property that it has become community property; and, whether community funds have been used to increase the value of separate property to such an extent that the community is entitled to be reimbursed.
