How well records survived
Tracing is a paper exercise. Ten-year-old bank statements you can still download are worth more than any argument about fairness.
Practice area
Property division
Characterising, valuing and dividing a Texas community estate, including tracing separate claims.
What the law actually says
Texas presumes that everything either spouse possesses at dissolution is community property. Section 3.003 makes that presumption rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence, which is a higher bar than the preponderance standard used for most civil questions.
Separate property is what you owned before marriage, plus anything acquired during marriage by gift, devise or descent, plus recovery for personal injuries other than lost earning capacity. Proving it usually requires tracing: an unbroken documentary chain from the separate source to the asset as it exists today. Commingled funds in a joint checking account are the classic tracing problem, and the community-out-first presumption is why.
The court then divides the community estate in a manner it deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children. A just and right division is not automatically equal. Courts consider relative earning capacity, education, health, fault in the breakup, custody of the children, the size of separate estates, and whether one spouse wasted community assets.
Governed principally by Tex. Fam. Code ch. 3 and 7
What we handle in this area
- Inventory and appraisement preparation and review
- Separate property tracing for accounts, homes and inherited assets
- Marital residence: sale, buyout, owelty lien and refinance deadlines
- Retirement division and Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
- Federal, military and Texas teacher retirement system divisions
- Business valuation, goodwill and owner-compensation normalisation
- Reimbursement claims between the community and separate estates
- Debt allocation, indemnity provisions and credit protection
How the case runs
Durations below are what we typically see on the El Paso County family docket. They are not statutory guarantees, and a case with a contested issue can sit outside them entirely.
- Month 1 to 2
Inventory
A sworn schedule of every asset and debt with values and a characterisation column. This document drives the whole negotiation.
- Month 1 to 3
Characterisation
Community, separate or mixed. We flag every asset that will need tracing before it becomes a fight.
- Month 2 to 5
Valuation
Appraisals for real estate, plan statements for retirement, and a valuation expert for a business or a professional practice.
- Month 4 to 8
Negotiation or mediation
Proposals are built as a spreadsheet showing each side's percentage of the net community estate.
- At final
Decree and transfer orders
Deeds, QDROs, title transfers and refinance deadlines are drafted with the decree, not afterwards.
What drives the cost and the timeline
Whether a business is involved
A closely held business usually needs a valuation expert, and the report and deposition typically add two to four months.
The house
Most divisions turn on whether one party can actually qualify to refinance. Get pre-approved before you negotiate for the house.
Waste and fraud on the community
Section 7.009 lets a court reconstitute the community estate where one spouse committed fraud on the community, and award a disproportionate share as a remedy.
My husband is stationed at Fort Bliss and I did not understand a word of the retirement paperwork. Thomas drew it out on a whiteboard until I did.
Questions we get about property division
No. Title does not determine characterisation in Texas. A house bought during marriage is presumed community regardless of whose name is on the deed, unless you can trace separate funds by clear and convincing evidence.
A lien placed on the house awarded to one spouse that secures the payment owed to the other spouse for their share of the equity. It is what makes a refinance-based buyout work in Texas.
By a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, a separate order the plan administrator must approve. The decree should say exactly how it will be calculated, including whether the alternate payee shares in growth.
Yes, and the decree allocates them with indemnity language. Note that the decree binds your ex-spouse, not the credit card company, which is why we also require refinancing or account closure deadlines.
We subpoena records directly from financial institutions, depose the spouse under oath, and where warranted retain a forensic accountant. Section 7.009 provides a reconstitution remedy for fraud on the community.