QUESTION
In case of divorce is the wife entitled to half the property?
Asked on Mar 10th, 2013 on Divorce - Texas
More details to this question:
I am a green card holder and husband is a citizen. Married for 3 yrs. We live in a apartment and now my husband is buying a house with his money. He does not want to add my name on it. He also did not add my name on apartment lease, or any utility or phone bills. Sometimes he makes it sound like a big favor that he might think about adding my name to the new house as a buyer along with his own. If, I refuse to add my name will I still be entitled to half the assets(house, car, bank account) in case we divorce?
1 ANSWER
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That is a complicated question. The State of Texas operates under a community property presumption, which means that anything purchased during the marriage is presumed to be community property unless proven otherwise by a party. It wouldn't matter whether your husband put the property only in his name or in both of your names because the fact that it was purchased during marriage would imply that it is community property. If your husband has separate assets and purchases the home with those separate assets and he can prove those facts, then it would be beneficial for you to have the home in your name as well for a variety of reasons that are too numerous to list here. The Court will divide all community property equitably, which may mean half and half, or it may mean something different. The first question will be whether the home is community property, then, if it is community, the Court will determine how to equitably divide the house and all the other assets.
Answered on Mar 11th, 2013 at 6:21 PM