separate property

Interspousal Gifts and Separate Property Under Texas Law

Published on: May 7, 2026 | by Kelly McClure

A fundamental principle of Texas family law is the distinction between community and separate property. While Texas is a community property state, property acquired by a spouse during marriage by gift, devise, or descent is characterized as that spouse’s separate property. Tex. Fam. Code § 3.001(2).

This characterization remains vital even when parties have executed a premarital agreement (PMA) designed to opt out of the community property system entirely. A recent decision from the Dallas Court of Appeals, In the Interest of A.B., illustrates that even a robust “no community property” agreement does not preclude one spouse from transferring their separate property to the other through a valid interspousal gift. No. 05-25-00039-CV, 2026 WL, Tex. App.—Dallas.

Factual Background

Wife Granted Portion of Proceeds of Husband’s Separate Property House Purchased Prior to Marriage

Published on: November 9, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

In Texas, property acquired by either spouse during the marriage is presumed to be community property. However, property acquired prior to marriage is not community property. In a recent case, the parties disputed the ownership of a piece of property they bought before marriage.

Before the parties married, they bought a property in Floresville with both names listed as “Grantee” on the warranty deed.

The wife petitioned for divorce in August 2023. She testified that the property was purchased with money from their joint account. She said that proceeds from the sale of a property owned by the husband were in the joint account but said they had both contributed funds to the joint account.

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Divorce Decree Awarding Wife Property Conveyed to Her by Husband

Published on: October 29, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

Spouses sometimes convey property to each other during the marriage for various reasons. In some cases, those conveyances may become an issue if the couple divorces. In a recent case, a former husband challenged the property division awarding the former wife two pieces of property, even though he had executed deeds conveying those properties to her.

The wife petitioned for divorce in June 2021 after more than 14 years of marriage. She identified a home and a separate plot of land as her separate property. She presented copies of a Special Gift Warranty deed by which the husband’s parents gifted the home to him, a later General Warranty deed by which the husband conveyed the home to the wife, a General Warranty Deed conveying the land to the husband, and a subsequent General Warranty deed conveying the land from the husband to the wife. She identified both properties as her separate property in her Initial Disclosures. The husband did not identify those properties as property he currently owned, separate property, or property against which he had a claim in his discovery responses.

The wife moved for partial summary judgment, asking the court to hold that both properties were her separate properties. She alleged the husband received the home as a gift from his parents, and then conveyed it to her as her separate property. She alleged he bought the land during the marriage and signed a General Warranty Deed conveying it to her in 2020. She argued he conveyed his undivided one-half community interest in the land to her, raising the gift presumption.

Ex-Wife Required to Pay Ex-Husband Proceeds from Sale of His Business Interest

Published on: September 9, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Mediated settlement agreements and Texas agreed divorce decrees are construed according to standard contract interpretation principals. A former wife recently challenged an enforcement order based on her interpretation of the agreed divorce decree.

The parties got married in 2002. The husband had acquired a business interest in the company for which he worked before the marriage. He sold that business interest in 2020, receiving one payment of a million dollars and four additional deposits totaling more than $1.8 million. Those funds were deposited into multiple accounts. Some of the funds had been spent.

The wife petitioned for divorce in May 2021. She withdrew funds from the parties’ accounts to support her children. Although she repaid some of the withdrawn funds, she did not repay all of it.

Former Husband Failed to Trace Separate Property from Alleged Gift in High Asset Texas Divorce

Published on: August 13, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Large inheritances, trusts, and gifts can complicate the property division in a Texas divorce. A spouse’s separate property includes the property they received during the marriage through gift, descent, or devise. Tex. Fam. Code § 3.001. In a recent case, a former husband challenged his divorce decree that characterized mineral rights he obtained from his mother’s trust as community property.

According to the opinion, when the husband’s mother died, she left a trust for the benefit of the husband’s father during his lifetime. The trust included mineral rights to certain property, which the husband’s father transferred to the husband and his siblings on November 1, 2009. The deed stated the grantor transferred the mineral rights to the husband and his five siblings “[f]or an adequate consideration paid and received.”

The husband testified his father gifted each sibling $12,000 from their mother’s estate to purchase the mineral rights. He presented a carbon copy check for $12,000 dated November 19, 2009, but it did not have an account number, payor name, or signature. A bank statement for the parties’ joint account reflected a $12,171 deposit on November 23 and a check for $11,130.50 on December 3. Those records did not indicate the source of the funds or who deposited them. They also did not show who wrote the check or who received it.

Wife Awarded Oncologist Husband’s Patent Rights and Stock Distributions Post-Divorce

Published on: July 29, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

Certain assets, especially stocks or assets related to a business, may be held in the name of just one spouse, even if they are community property. In a Texas divorce, a court may impose a constructive trust requiring the spouse to transfer property to the other spouse. Tex. Fam Code 9.011 provides that receipt by one spouse of certain installment or lump-sum payments that were awarded to the other spouse in a divorce decree gives rise to a fiduciary obligation and imposes a constructive trust on the property.

In a recent case, a former husband challenged the divorce decree that imposed a constructive trust on future payments to him as stockholder in a corporation, arguing that part of the payments should be considered his separate property.

The husband was an oncologist who was involved in the development of a drug to treat breast cancer. A corporation owned the patent rights for the drug and the husband acquired stocks equaling 30.33% ownership of the corporation with community funds.

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Characterization and Property Division in Texas Divorce

Published on: April 20, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

Characterization and valuation of property can be heavily contested issues in Texas divorces, especially in cases involving a high net worth or businesses. A wife recently challenged the court’s characterization of certain property and property division.

The husband petitioned for divorce just a year and eight months after the marriage. The court’s judgment confirmed certain property as his separate property and divided the community property. The court awarded specific items to each party, and granted a judgment for half the value to the other party, resulting in a generally equal division of the community property. The court also divided cash and bank accounts equally.

The court awarded the wife an equalization judgment of $232,878.85 and the husband an equalization judgment of $56,300. The court also awarded the husband a judgment of $80,000 for his separate property that the court found the wife had converted.

Characterization of Assets in Accounts with Commingled Funds in Texas Divorce

Published on: March 31, 2025 | by Kelly McClure

All property possessed by either spouse at the time of a Texas divorce is presumed to be community property, but this presumption can be rebutted with clear and convincing evidence. Property’s characterization is determined by the inception of title. Separate property retains its separate character if the spouse can rebut the community presumption by tracing the assets back to separate property. If separate and community property are commingled to an extent that would defy resegregation and identification, it will be presumed to be community property.

A former wife recently appealed the award of funds from a particular account in the divorce decree.

According to the appeals court, the trial court had awarded 60% of the funds in the account to the husband as his separate property. The court found the remainder of the funds were community property and awarded each party half of that amount as their separate property.

Supreme Court of Texas Addresses Several Property Division Issues in Divorce Case

Published on: January 14, 2025 | by Francesca Blackard

The Supreme Court of Texas recently considered the property division in a Texas divorce case involving a complex estate, including an outstanding employee bonus, claims of separate property, and a retirement plan.

The parties got married in 2020 and were divorced in late 2019, with litigation regarding the property division continuing beyond the divorce.

Bonus

During the marriage, the husband worked for a large bank. He received an annual cash and stock bonus contingent on the bank’s and his own performance. The bonus was paid around February 15 each year.

Texas Court Requires Ex-Husband to Continue Paying Taxes on Property Where Ex-Wife Lives

Published on: December 7, 2024 | by Francesca Blackard

Texas spousal maintenance is only awarded under certain specific circumstances. The Texas Family Code sets out guidelines for the duration of a spousal support order, but the obligation to pay future maintenance also terminates on the death of either party, remarriage of the former spouse receiving maintenance, or upon a finding the former spouse receiving maintenance is cohabiting with a romantic partner. Tex. Fam. Code § 8.056.

In a recent case, a Texas appeals court considered whether a former husband’s obligation to pay property taxes should have been terminated with the monthly spousal maintenance when the former wife was cohabiting with a romantic partner.

Divorce Decree

The 2014 final divorce decree awarded the former husband as separate property “all rights, title, and interest” in a particular piece of real estate in San Antonio. It also awarded the former wife a life estate in that property. The husband was ordered to pay $1,500 in monthly spousal support, as well as the mortgage payments as “an additional spousal support obligation.”