In most marriages, one spouse or the other will be the manager of most of the assets of the parties' separate and community property estates. This “trust theory” has been developed in a long line of cases and provides that the spouse who is managing the assets of the marriage will be treated as a … [Read more...]
Avoiding Community Property Laws in Tax Returns
I often am asked by someone going through a divorce whether they should prepare their tax return using the Married-filing-joint method (MFJ) or Married-filing-separate (MFS) method. My first response is that MFJ is usually the method which results in the least amount of tax paid by the couple. … [Read more...]
More on Constructive Fraud and Waste Claims Benefiting a Wronged Spouse
Earlier this month I blogged about claims of waste and constructive fraud. Here is how such claims can benefit the wronged spouse. The Texas Family Code now provides specific guidance on how a divorce court can remedy fraud committed by one spouse on another. Section 7.009, Fraud on the … [Read more...]
A New Twist to Claims of Waste and Constructive Fraud
A recent Houston divorce case provides a new twist to claims of waste or constructive fraud. In that case, the wife basically asked the question, where did all my husband’s earnings go? The court awarded the wife a judgement of $196,000 for wasting community funds because the husband could not … [Read more...]
Community Property, Separate Property, and Tracing in Divorce
Community and Separate Property Texas has adopted the community property system. Only eight other states have such a system: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Wisconsin. Under the community property system, all property on hand at the date of marriage, or … [Read more...]