Legal Definitions - common-law-property state

Definition: A common-law-property state is a state that has not adopted a community-property regime. In a common-law state, a spouse's interest in property held by the other spouse does not vest until a divorce action has been filed or the other spouse has died.

Example: Texas is a common-law-property state. This means that if a couple gets divorced, the property is divided based on who legally owns it. If one spouse owned a house before the marriage, it is considered separate property and belongs to that spouse. However, if the couple bought a house together during the marriage, it is considered community property and is divided equally between the spouses.

Explanation: The example illustrates the definition by showing how property is divided in a common-law-property state like Texas. The state does not have a community-property regime, so property is divided based on legal ownership rather than being split equally between spouses. This means that if one spouse owned property before the marriage, they will keep it after the divorce, while property acquired during the marriage will be divided based on legal ownership.