Community Property

When two or more people unmarried to each other co-own real estate, they own either as tenants in common, or joint tenants. When married, they own as community property.

“Community property” is a legal concept in Spanish law. For this very obvious reason, it is more common in Western states*, i.e. the those states previously part of Mexico, and before that Spain.

Unlike tenants in common and joint tenants, community property includes both real property (land and things attached to it, like houses) and personal property (everything else). Owners of community property own it jointly, and when one dies ownership automatically passes to the surviving spouse (like joint tenants).

If people own real property, and then get married, their spouse will likely become part owner as a result of community property. Under this law, the earnings of one spouse belong one-half to the other. So if a paycheck is used for the mortgage after marriage, then the spouse will quickly become a co-owner, regardless of intent.

* The complete list of community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.