The process of partition action starts with one or more owners filing a petition in court. The court then examines the real estate details and the owners' interests to decide on the best division method.
Code § 4.102. Current with legislation from the 2023 Regular and Special Sessions signed by the Governor as of November 21, 2023. At any time, the spouses may partition or exchange between themselves all or part of their community property, then existing or to be acquired, as the spouses may desire.
Property acquired during the marriage (outside of the noted exceptions) is considered community property. The spouses can, however, agree to convert (or “transmute”) community property into separate property. In Texas, this is done via a written agreement establishing a partition or exchange between the parties.
For a postnuptial agreement to be valid in Texas, it must meet the following requirements: It must be formalized in writing. It must be voluntarily signed by both parties. It must provide full and accurate disclosure of all assets, income, and liabilities owned by each spouse, ensuring fairness and enforceability.
In short, yes, you should have an attorney to represent you in a postnuptial agreement for several reasons: To be sure you are treated fairly in the agreement. To have the agreement upheld, as a court is much more likely to say it is a valid contract if both parties were represented by counsel when they entered into it.
23.001. PARTITION. A joint owner or claimant of real property or an interest in real property or a joint owner of personal property may compel a partition of the interest or the property among the joint owners or claimants under this chapter and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
Every co-owner of an interest in the property (no matter how small) must agree in order for a voluntary partition to occur. The remedy when agreement cannot be reached is for one or more of the co-owners to seek a court-ordered division by means of a partition suit.