If I purchased a house 8 months ago under my own name and before I married, would my home be considered community property in the event of a separation/divorce?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I purchased a house 8 months ago under my own name and before I married, would my home be considered community property in the event of a separation/divorce?
Would she be entitled to any ownership of the house?
Asked on December 21, 2015 under Family Law, Texas
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Separate property is property acquired prior to marriage. A spouse has no claim to the other spouse's separate property.
Community property is property acquired during marriage. Each spouse has a one half interest in the community property.
Since you purchased the house prior to marriage, it is your separate property and your spouse would not have a claim to the house; however, if income earned during marriage (which is community property) is used to pay the mortgage or make improvements to the house resulting in its enhanced value, your spouse could assert a community property claim as to the value of those improvements.
If the mortgage is paid from your separate property (income earned prior to marriage), your spouse does not have a claim to the house. If improvements are made to the house during marriage, but are from your income prior to marriage, those improvements would be characterized as your separate property and your spouse would not have a community property claim to the enhanced value of the home.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.