Definition of "Community property"

Jim Plotkin real estate agent

Written by

Jim Plotkinelite badge icon

Dalton Wade Realty

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

An adversary hearing allows both parties to an issue to present their views. A public procedure performed by an administrative or legislative body to investigate certain matters and ...

Right of a current stockholder to maintain the percentage ownership in a real estate company by purchasing new shares on a proportionate basis before they are issued to the public. It ...

Time interval between buying a real estate investment and selling it. A sound way to determine the return from a real estate investment is over its life. For example, if land was bought on ...

The float has several meanings in the financial world and the real estate terminology. Typically, the float refers to the number of funds, represented by checks, that an institution or an ...

Property highly leveraged. An example is when a landlord buys an apartment house paying minimum cash payment down and the balance on mortgage. ...

...

Generally speaking, the meaning of warehousing refers to the act of storing assets and keeping a physical inventory expecting a sale or distribution of goods at a later date. Warehousing is ...

Aerial photos are photographs taken by cameras mounted in aircraft or satellites. Aerial photos are more commonly used in the industrial Real Estate Market to get a better feel of a ...

To pass property by will to an heir. Strictly speaking, real estate cannot be bequeathed to an heir, it must be devised. However, if it becomes clear the purpose of the testator was to ...

Popular Real Estate Questions