For distribution of marital assets upon a divorce or death, states with community property laws stipulate that both the husband and wife own all the money earned by any of them during the subsistence of marriage equally. Similarly, both the spouses equally own all the property acquired by the couple with such community money irrespective of who purchased it.
The couple jointly owes any debt contracted by any of them during marriage.
The cut off point is the separation date, which is the last day when property or debts is deemed ‘community’.
In community property states separate properties not meant for distribution include those assets, which each spouse brought into the marriage or owned prior to marriage and thereafter received or inherited as gifts during the subsistence of the marriage, unless commingled with community property.
