Texas

JURISDICTIONAL END OF MARRIAGE DATE: Date of Divorce. If not Divorced use current date.

STATE TYPE FOR PENSION EVALUATION: Texas is a "community property" state. Texas is a so-called "equitable distribution" state. This means that the division of property and debts between the divorcing parties should be fair and equitable, but not necessarily equal. The court has wide discretion in dividing property.

[Texas Codes Annotated; Family Code, Chapters 7.001 to 7.006].

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. '3.001

Separate Property

A spouse's separate property consists of:

(1) the property owned or claimed by the spouse before marriage;

(2) the property acquired by the spouse during marriage by gift, devise, or descent; and

(3) the recovery for personal injuries sustained by the spouse during marriage, except any recovery for loss of earning capacity during marriage.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 3.002

Community Property

Community property consists of the property, other than separate property, acquired by either spouse during marriage.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 3.102

Managing Community Property

(a) During marriage, each spouse has the sole management, control, and disposition of the community property that the spouse would have owned if single, including:

(1) personal earnings;

(2) revenue from separate property;

(3) recoveries for personal injuries; and

(4) the increase and mutations of, and the revenue from, all property subject to the spouse's sole management, control, and disposition.

(b) If community property subject to the sole management, control, and disposition of one spouse is mixed or combined with community property subject to the sole management, control, and disposition of the other spouse, then the mixed or combined community property is subject to the joint management, control, and disposition of the spouses, unless the spouses provide otherwise by power of attorney in writing or other agreement.

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (a), community property is subject to the joint management, control, and disposition of the spouses unless the spouses provide otherwise by power of attorney in writing or other agreement.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 3.202

Rules of Marital Property Liability

(a) A spouse's separate property is not subject to liabilities of the other spouse unless both spouses are liable by other rules of law.

(b) Unless both spouses are personally liable as provided by this subchapter, the community property subject to a spouse's sole management, control, and disposition is not subject to:

(1) any liabilities that the other spouse incurred before marriage; or

(2) any nontortious liabilities that the other spouse incurs during marriage.

(c) The community property subject to a spouse's sole or joint management, control, and disposition is subject to the liabilities incurred by the spouse before or during marriage.

(d) All community property is subject to tortious liability of either spouse incurred during marriage.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 4.003

Content

(a) The parties to a premarital agreement may contract with respect to:

(1) the rights and obligations of each of the parties in any of the property of either or both of them whenever and wherever acquired or located;

(2) the right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange, abandon, lease, consume, expend, assign, create a security interest in, mortgage, encumber, dispose of, or otherwise manage and control property;

(3) the disposition of property on separation, marital dissolution, death, or the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event;

(4) the modification or elimination of spousal support;

(5) the making of a will, trust, or other arrangement to carry out the provisions of the agreement;

(6) the ownership rights in and disposition of the death benefit from a life insurance policy;

(7) the choice of law governing the construction of the agreement; and

(8) any other matter, including their personal rights and obligations, not in violation of public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.

(b) The right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 4.102

Partition or Exchange of Community Property

At any time, the spouses may partition or exchange between themselves all or part of their community property, then existing or to be acquired, as the spouses may desire. Property or a property interest transferred to a spouse by a partition or exchange agreement becomes that spouse's separate property. The partition or exchange of property includes future earnings and income arising from the property as the separate property of the owning spouse unless the spouses agree in a record that the future earnings and income will be community property after the partition or exchange.

NOTE: Section 5(b) of Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 230 provides:

The change in law made by this Act by the amendment of Section 4.102,

Family Code, applies only to an agreement to partition or exchange property made on or after the effective date of this Act. An agreement made before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the agreement was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 6.707

Transfers and Debts Pending Decree

(a) A transfer of real or personal community property or a debt incurred by a spouse while a suit for divorce or annulment is pending that subjects the other spouse or the community property to liability is void with respect to the other spouse if the transfer was made or the debt incurred with the intent to injure the rights of the other spouse.

(b) A transfer or debt is not void if the person dealing with the transferor or debtor spouse did not have notice of the intent to injure the rights of the other spouse.

(c) The spouse seeking to void a transfer or debt incurred while a suit for divorce or annulment is pending has the burden of proving that the person dealing with the transferor or debtor spouse had notice of the intent to injure the rights of the spouse seeking to void the transaction.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 7.001

General Rule of Property Division

In a decree of divorce or annulment, the court shall order a division of the estate of the parties in a manner that the court deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 7.002

Division and Disposition of Certain Property Under Special Circumstances

(a) In addition to the division of the estate of the parties required by Section 7.001, in a decree of divorce or annulment the court shall order a division of the following real and personal property, wherever situated, in a manner that the court deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage:

(1) property that was acquired by either spouse while domiciled in another state and that would have been community property if the spouse who acquired the property had been domiciled in this state at the time of the acquisition; or

(2) property that was acquired by either spouse in exchange for real or personal property and that would have been community property if the spouse who acquired the property so exchanged had been domiciled in this state at the time of its acquisition.

(b) In a decree of divorce or annulment, the court shall award to a spouse the following real and personal property, wherever situated, as the separate property of the spouse:

(1) property that was acquired by the spouse while domiciled in another state and that would have been the spouse's separate property if the spouse had been domiciled in this state at the time of acquisition; or

(2) property that was acquired by the spouse in exchange for real or personal property and that would have been the spouse's separate property if the spouse had been domiciled in this state at the time of acquisition.

(c) In a decree of divorce or annulment, the court shall confirm the following as the separate property of a spouse if partitioned or exchanged by written agreement of the spouses:

(1) income and earnings from the spouses' property, wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation received on or after January 1 of the year in which the suit for dissolution of marriage was filed; or

(2) income and earnings from the spouses' property, wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation received in another year during which the spouses were married for any part of the year.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 7.004

Disposition of Rights in Insurance

In a decree of divorce or annulment, the court shall specifically divide or award the rights of each spouse in an insurance policy.

Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 7.005

Insurance Coverage Not Specifically Awarded

(a) If in a decree of divorce or annulment the court does not specifically award all of the rights of the spouses in an insurance policy other than life insurance in effect at the time the decree is rendered, the policy remains in effect until the policy expires according to the policy's own terms.

(b) The proceeds of a valid claim under the policy are payable as follows:

(1) if the interest in the property insured was awarded solely to one former spouse by the decree, to that former spouse;

(2) if an interest in the property insured was awarded to each former spouse, to those former spouses in proportion to the interests awarded; or

(3) if the insurance coverage is directly related to the person of one of the former spouses, to that former spouse.

(c) The failure of either former spouse to change the endorsement on the policy to reflect the distribution of proceeds established by this section does not relieve the insurer of liability to pay the proceeds or any other obligation on the policy.

(d) This section does not affect the right of a former spouse to assert an ownership interest in an undivided life insurance policy, as provided by

Subchapter D, Chapter 9.

TEX. GOV'T. CODE ANN. ' 804.003

Qualified Domestic Relations Orders

(a) Sections 811.005, 821.005, 831.004, 836.004, 841.006, and 851.006 and any similar antialienation provisions contained in any other public retirement system shall apply to the creation, assignment, recognition, or enforcement of a right to any benefit payable with respect to a member or retiree of a public retirement system to which the section applies pursuant to a domestic relations order unless the order is determined to be a qualified domestic relations order.

(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d), the administrative head of a public retirement system to which this chapter applies and to which a domestic relations order is submitted or his designee has exclusive authority to determine whether a domestic relations order is a qualified domestic relations order. A determination by the administrative head or his designee under this section may be appealed only to the board of trustees of the public retirement system. An appeal to the board of trustees of a statewide retirement system is a contested case under Chapter 2001. However, the board of a statewide retirement system by rule may waive the requirement of an appeal to the board. On appeal of a decision made by the board of trustees or by the administrative head if there is no appeal to the board under this section, the standard of review is by substantial evidence.

(c) Except as provided in Subsection (d), a court does not have jurisdiction over a public retirement system to which this chapter applies with respect to a divorce or other domestic relations action in which an alternate payee's right to receive all or a portion of the benefits payable to a member or retiree under the public retirement system is created or established. A party to such an action who attempts to make a public retirement system a party to the action contrary to the provision of this subsection shall be liable to the public retirement system for its costs and attorney's fees.

(d) Under the optional retirement program, applicable carriers shall determine whether a domestic relations order is a qualified domestic relations order. If a dispute arises over the determination of whether a domestic relations order is a qualified domestic relations order which cannot be resolved by the procedure described in Subsection (g), the court which issued the order or which otherwise has jurisdiction over the matter shall resolve the dispute with respect to a divorce or other domestic relations action in which an alternate payee's right to receive all or a portion of the benefits payable to a member or retiree under the optional retirement program is created or established.

(e) For the purposes of this section, benefits payable with respect to a member or retiree under the retirement system include the types of benefits payable by a public retirement system and a withdrawal of contributions from a public retirement system.

(f) A domestic relations order is a qualified domestic relations order only if such order:

(1) clearly specifies the name, social security number, and last known mailing address, if any, of the member or retiree and the name, social security number, and mailing address of each alternate payee covered by the order;

(2) clearly specifies the amount or percentage of the member's or retiree's benefits to be paid by a public retirement system to each such alternate payee or the manner in which such amount or percentage is to be determined;

(3) clearly specifies the number of payments or the period to which such order applies;

(4) clearly specifies that such order applies to a designated public retirement system;

(5) does not require the public retirement system to provide any type or form of benefit or any option not otherwise provided under the plan;

(6) does not require the public retirement system to provide increased benefits determined on the basis of actuarial value;

(7) does not require the payment of benefits to an alternate payee which are required to be paid to another alternate payee under another order previously determined to be a qualified domestic relations order; and

(8) does not require the payment of benefits to an alternate payee before the retirement of a member, the distribution of a withdrawal of contributions to a member, or other distribution to a member required by law.

(g) A public retirement system may reject a domestic relations order as a qualified domestic relations order unless the order:

(1) provides for a proportional reduction of the amount awarded to an alternate payee in the event of the retirement of the member before normal retirement age;

(2) does not purport to require the designation of a particular person as the recipient of benefits in the event of a member's or annuitant's death;

(3) does not purport to require the selection of a particular benefit payment plan or option;

(4) provides clearly for each possible benefit distribution under plan provisions;

(5) does not require any action on the part of the retirement system contrary to its governing statutes or plan provision other than the direct payment of the benefit awarded to an alternate payee;

(6) does not make the award of an interest contingent on any condition other than those conditions resulting in the liability of a retirement system for payments under its plan provisions;

(7) does not purport to award any future benefit increases that are provided or required by the legislature; and

(8) provides for a proportional reduction of the amount awarded to an alternate payee in the event that benefits available to the retiree or member are reduced by law.

(h) The administrative head of a public retirement system to which this chapter applies or his designee (or applicable carrier, if under the optional retirement program), upon receipt of a certified copy of a domestic relations order, shall determine whether such order is a qualified domestic relations order and shall notify the member or retiree and each alternate payee of such determination. If the order is determined to be a qualified domestic relations order, the public retirement system (or applicable carrier, if under the optional retirement program), shall pay benefits in accordance with the order. If the order is determined not to be a qualified domestic relations order, the member or retiree or any alternate payee named in the order may appeal the administrative head's determination in the manner specified in Subsection (b) or the optional retirement program carrier's determination in the manner specified in Subsection (d) and may petition the court which issued the order to amend the order so that it will be qualified. The court which issued the order or which would otherwise have jurisdiction over the matter has jurisdiction to amend the order so that it will be qualified even though all other matters incident to the action or proceeding have been fully and finally adjudicated.

(i) During any period in which the issue of whether a domestic relations order is a qualified domestic relations order is being determined by the agency administrative head, his designee, the board of trustees, a court of competent jurisdiction, optional retirement program carrier, or otherwise, the public retirement system shall separately account for the amounts, in this section referred to as the "segregated amounts," which would have been payable to the alternate payee during such period if the order had been determined to be a qualified domestic relations order.

(j) If a domestic relations order is determined to be a qualified domestic relations order, then the public retirement system (or applicable carrier, if under the optional retirement program) shall pay the segregated amounts without interest to the person or persons entitled thereto and shall thereafter pay benefits pursuant to the order.

(k) If a domestic relations order is determined not to be a qualified domestic relations order or if within 18 months of the date a domestic relations order is received by the public retirement system (or applicable carrier, if under the optional retirement program) the issue as to whether such order is a qualified domestic relations order is not resolved, then the public retirement system (or applicable carrier, if under the optional retirement program) shall pay the segregated amounts without interest and shall thereafter pay benefits to the person or persons who would have been entitled to such amounts if there had been no order. This subsection shall not be construed to limit or otherwise affect any liability, responsibility, or duty of a party with respect to any other party to the action out of which the order arose.

(l) Any determination that an order is a qualified domestic relations order which is made after the close of the 18-month period shall be applied prospectively only.

(m) The public retirement system, the board of trustees, and officers and employees of the public retirement system (or applicable carrier, if under the optional retirement program) shall not be liable to any person for making payments of any benefits in accordance with a domestic relations order in a cause in which a member or a retiree was a party or for making payments in accordance with Subsection (k).

(n) The board of trustees of a public retirement system may promulgate rules it deems necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

(o) Except as specifically provided in this subtitle or by any other statute, public employment does not confer special privileges or immunities on a public employee. An ownership or beneficial interest in any retirement, pension, or other financial plan not included in the definition of "public retirement system" as set forth in Section 804.001 held in whole or in part by an officer or employee of the state or a political subdivision or of an agency or an instrumentality of either, whether obtained in connection with that employment or otherwise, shall be subject to the requirements of the federal laws governing qualified domestic relations orders.

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