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.
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.
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.
Potential solutions for dividing inherited property include selling the property and dividing the proceeds, providing siblings with co-ownership, and having one sibling buy out the other siblings.
Any co-owner has the right to file a partition action. A person who owns even a tiny fraction of joint property has standing to ask the court to divide the property or order a sale of the property to fairly divide the proceeds.
A partition agreement divides, or partitions, a married couple's community estate into two separate estates. It is sometimes called a post-nuptial or post-marital agreement and is similar to a prenuptial agreement, except that it is executed by a married couple.
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.