Division of Your Marital Property in a Divorce

The Texas Family Code requires that, at the time of divorce, the court divide the community property of the spouses "in a manner that the court deems just and right." This does not mean that a Court is required to divide the marital property on a 50-50 basis. The court can look to a variety of factors in deciding what percentage each spouse is awarded to arrive at a "just and right" division. Fault in the breakup of marriage, the conduct of the spouses during the marriage, fraud, waste, earning power of the spouses, who will be the primary caregiver of the children, nature of the property to be divided, whether a specific asset will be subject to taxation and attorney's fees to be paid can all influence the court's division of the spouse's property.
Community property is all property other than a spouse's separate property that is acquired during the marriage by either spouse. All property owned by the spouses at the time of divorce is presumed to be community property and subject to being divided by the court.
The Court can determine the rights of spouses in any pension or retirement plan or their rights under any life insurance policy.
Valuation of a particular asset of the parties can be difficult.  Family businesses, stock options, unique collections such as wine, antiques or interests in retirement plans can all pose questions as to their real worth.
Many times determining the value of complex marital assets requires expert's testimony. Make sure your attorney fully understands the complicated valuation methods used by experts so that what is a complex issue can be explained easily to a judge, jury or mediator.