Most people assume that a judge will equally divide their property upon divorce, but the Texas Family Code actually instructs the judge to make a “just and right division” of the parties’ marital estate, with no reference to percentages. It is not uncommon for judges to divide the property disproportionately. The judge considers many factors in dividing the parties’ property, such as the length of marriage, employability and educational background of the spouses, and fault in the breakup of the marriage.

There are two types of property in a marriage: separate and community.  Separate property is property that a spouse owned prior to marriage, or receives during the marriage by gift, devise or inheritance.  Community property is property that the spouses acquire during the marriage, such as income from their respective jobs, or property they purchase during the marriage such as homes and automobiles.  The judge only has the authority to divide community property, and is barred by law from divesting a spouse of his or her separate property.