Texas Marital Property Division Lawyers
Kingwood | Sugar Land | Houston
Texas is a community property state. This means that all property accumulated during the marriage, with the exception of gifts and inheritances, is community property and must be divided. However, that doesn't mean it will be divided equally.
At the law firm of Martin & Lilly, our lawyers will work to maximize your share of the community or marital property and protect your separate property. Separate property includes assets you owned prior to your marriage, which do not have to be divided.
In Texas, judges can award a disproportionate share of community property to one of the parties based on a number of factors, including:
- Disparity of income between the two parties
- Disparity of separate property between the two parties
- Health of the parties
- The child custody arrangement
- Fault in the breakup of marriage
One of the most important things your lawyer can do to help you get a fair division of the community property is to hire the right experts, appraisers and valuation experts. Many people do not know all of the property their spouse owns, so our lawyers hire forensic accountants to uncover marital assets. Retirement benefits, such as your spouse's pension plan and 401(k) account, can be worth a million dollars or more, and you are entitled to 50 percent of the benefits that were earned during your marriage.
Assets such as a business can include a mix of community and separate property. Businesses owned prior to marriage are separate property. However, if the business increased in value during the marriage, the increase in value would be community property and is subject to division.
Discuss your property division case with an aggressive Texas attorney
For more information about the division and distribution of marital assets, contact an attorney at Martin & Lilly. For your convenience, we have offices in Kingwood, Sugar Land and Houston.
