Under Texas law, all assets that a couple acquires during marriage belong to both of them, and as such, the court must intervene at divorce. In other words, a couple’s joint marital property must be split up equally and without bias during divorce, unless, of course, there is a pre-written agreement (such as a prenuptial agreement) stating otherwise. (See Family Code Sec. 4.001.)
To establish the net value of the community estate, the court will subtract the debts incurred during the marriage from the community estate’s estimated value. In most instances, each spouse will receive exactly one-half of the net marital estate.
As an example, one partner might be awarded real estate investments and the family business while the other one gets to walk away with the family residence. What’s important is that each party gets assets that are similar in value.