Family Law Blog

Texas is a community property state; however, property that is obtained as an inheritance is separate property. Upon divorce, a court can only divide the community property and the court has no authority to divide separate property. So, an inheritance belongs to the spouse that received it and the other spouse can not take any part of it during the divorce.

Unfortunately, it is not always that simple. The spouse who claims that a certain property was received as an inheritance has a burden to prove this to the court by clear & convincing evidence. This can be hard, or impossible, to do in circumstances where spouses use their inheritance to buy a house, take vacations, or buy other property items. If the spouse cannot clearly trace the inheritance to the property that is currently on hand during the divorce, the Court may deem the property to be so commingled that the entire property takes on a community property characterization.

This can become a complicated problem as time goes on if the spouse is not careful to segregate their inheritance into a separate account. If you have an inheritance that you believe may be subject to division during a divorce, it is essential that you get the advice of a trusted law firm to help you identify, trace, and prove the property belongs to you.