In the common property jurisdiction, it is presumed that each spouse in a marriage owns a share of the matrimonial property, including all financial or real assets acquired during the marriage. In some jurisdictions, such as California, community property is strictly divided into two halves, with each spouse receiving 50% of all assets considered matrimonial property. In other jurisdictions, such as Texas, a judge may decide to divide assets into each denomination that he or she deems fair to both spouses. As a general rule, gifts and property inherited from one of the spouses are not considered joint property. Property acquired before marriage is not considered community property (although in some jurisdictions such property may be converted into community property). Debts acquired during the marriage can be considered as property of the community. There is an entry on Community law in the European Legal Encyclopedia. The concept of the common good exists to protect the rights of the spouse. It comes from Spanish law, a civil law system derived from Roman civil law and the Visigothic Code. It recognizes that both spouses contribute to a marriage in different ways and considers that the two contributions are financially equal under the law. In the United States, nine states have community property laws: community property refers to a legal distinction at the U.S. state level that designates the property of a married person.
All income and real or personal property acquired by one of the spouses during a marriage is considered joint property and therefore belongs to both spouses. Under community property, spouses own (and must) everything equally, regardless of who earns or spends the income. For example, an IRA in the name of a person with a spouse who has accumulated during a marriage would be considered common property. In general, the spouse of the pension account holder who resides in a Community or a matrimonial property status must be the sole principal beneficiary of an investment account referred to as matrimonial property, unless the spouse gives his or her written consent for someone else to be designated as the principal beneficiary of the pension account. Alaska has an optional community property system in which spouses can agree to hold all or part of their matrimonial property together by creating a community property trust or community ownership agreement. Tennessee and South Dakota have similar systems. For example, community property considers the contribution of a breadwinner spouse who cares for the family and a stay-at-home spouse who cares for the children and supervises the household by giving both spouses a share of the matrimonial property, even though the spouse may not have contributed financially or other assets to the marriage. California courts. “Property and debts in the event of divorce or legal separation.” Retrieved 14 September 2020. European Union law (as opposed to the national laws of the Member States). It consists of the Treaties establishing the EU (as well as subsequent Reform Treaties), Community law and decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Any provision of the Treaties or of Community law which is directly applicable or has direct effect in a Member State shall form part of the law of that State and shall prevail over its national law in the event of a conflict between the two.
Description of Community law by the Commission of the European Union: Strictly speaking, Community law includes the founding Treaties (primary law) and the provisions of acts adopted by the Community institutions on the basis of these Treaties (secondary legislation – regulations, directives, etc.). Once the European Constitution is adopted, it will replace the current founding treaties. Primary Community law will include the Constitution and its protocols – including the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is incorporated therein – and the Euratom Treaty. In a broader sense, Community law covers all provisions of the Community legal order, including general principles of law, the case-law of the Court of Justice, the law resulting from the Community`s external relations and the supplementary law contained in similar agreements and understandings concluded between Member States in order to implement the provisions of the Treaty. All these legal norms are part of the so-called acquis communautaire. Community property is also called matrimonial property. In the context of Europe and according to A Dictionary of Law, here is a definition of Community law: (Community law, EU law) Texas Statutes. “Family Code, Title 1, Subtitle B, Chapter 3, Subchapter A: General Rules on Separate and Communal Property.” (accessed on .
