Definition of "Community property"

Property owned and held jointly and equally shared by each spouse. It is purchased during their marriage, regardless of the wage-earning situation of either spouse. A spouse may not make a gift of or dispose of community property without valuable consideration and written consent of the other spouse. Also, necessaries such as furniture etc, may not be disposed of without written consent of the other spouse. On a co-owners death, one half belongs to the survivor as separate party. One half goes by will to the descendant devises or by succession to the survivor. Property owned before marriage, and property acquired after marriage by gift, inheritance, or by purchase with separate funds can be exempted from the couples community property. Such property is called separate property and can be conveyed or mortgaged without the signature of the owners spouse.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Same as term nonconforming use: Property use which is in violation of the current zoning ordinance, but had been in use prior to the zoning ordinance's enactment. A nonconforming use is ...

3D Printed Homes are basically homes that were printed via 3D Printers. Though semantically the phrase is pretty obvious and straightforward, there’s a lot we need to contextualize ...

Real estate market where supply significantly exceeds demand enabling potential buyers to obtain lower prices and good deals. ...

The Exclusive Right to Sell Listing is a type of Listing where the Listing Broker/Agent wins his/her commission even if he/she wasn’t directly responsible for the sale.Let’s ...

Transactions taking place between individuals who are alive rather than when one of the parties is either dead (e.g., estate) or is contemplating death. For example, a deed may transfer ...

Flood insurance is a type of home insurance created to protect a homeowner’s property against damages caused by floods. Flood insurance is typically not included in the regular ...

Those factors causing the movement of people, industry, and business from the central city to the outside central city areas, suburbs, and/or small cities. Elements of the dispersing force ...

Indicators reflecting future changes in economic conditions; referred to as the Composite Index of 11 Leading Indicators. This index indicates the direction of the economy in the next six ...

An offset statement defines a specific property owner’s underwritten certificate against their property. The reason behind this action is to set forth the current condition of liens ...

Popular Real Estate Questions