Practice Areas

Marital Agreements

Property acquired while married in Texas is presumed to be community property. This means that regardless of whose name the property is in, each party has an equal ownership interest in the property. There is no such thing as a “legal separation” in Texas, which means that you are married in Texas until the day that the divorce is granted. If parties want to change how property is characterized during a marriage, they can contractually agree to a marital agreement. This can be accomplished by using a premarital agreement prior to getting married or a property agreement between spouses after getting married. The use of marital agreements contractually changes how property that is accumulated during a marriage is characterized and therefore treated by the court in the event the parties get divorced. Parties can contractually agree that property acquired during the marriage will remain separate property, and parties that are married can also agree to change separate property assets into community assets.