Married couples often don’t give much thought to the characterization of their property as community or separate. In general, community property is all real or personal property acquired by a married person during the marriage. Separate property is all property owned by the person before the marriage, all property acquired by the person after marriage by gift, bequest or devise, and the rents and profits from the person’s separate property.

The day to day routines of the spouses sometimes do not reflect the true character of the property. For example, many couples treat their residence as a joint asset even if it is the separate property of one spouse. Their actions may include sharing property expenses such as taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, or jointly contributing to major improvements. Although the couple may treat this residence as a community property asset, their behavior alone does not change the character of the property.