What is Separate Property?

In Texas, "Separate Property" consists of:

• the property owned or claimed by a spouse before marriage
• the property acquired by the spouse during marriage by gift, devise, or descent
• the recovery for personal injuries sustained by the spouse during the marriage, except any recovery for loss of earning capacity during marriage.

The separate property remains the property of the individual spouse. Spouses may also agree to set aside portions of their community property as separate property; this is accomplished using a partition or exchange agreement.

Even if separate property is commingled with the community property of the marriage, as long as it can be traced and properly identified, it will remain separate property. This is usually done by seeing how the money was originally spent (usually on a single large purchase, like a house) and tracing the flow of the money through bank accounts and finally the hard assets. However, the better practice remains to keep separate property in a separate account, and to title any assets bought with those separate property funds in the name of the spouse owning the separate property.

If you need a Texas divorce lawyer, contact Peterson Law Group.