§ 3.01 Introduction

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Publication year: 2021

§ 3.01 Introduction

A few states utilize the civil law community property system to determine spouses' respective rights in property.¹ However, the majority of "common law" states initially adopted the English "title" system to regulate the property rights of spouses.² This "title" system has been severely criticized, and as a result, no "common law" state still applies a pure "title" approach to property division at divorce. All of these states now utilize some version of an "equitable distribution" approach.³

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Notes:

^[1] See generally, de Funiak and Vaughn, Principles of Community Property (2d ed. 1971).

^[2] See: Daggett, "Division of Property upon Dissolution of Marriage," 6 Law & Contemp. Prob. 225 (1939); Comment, 28 UCLA L. Rev. 1269 (1981). See generally, Oldham, "Property Division in a Texas Divorce of a Migrant Spouse: Heads He Wins, Tails She Loses?," 19 Houston L. Rev. 1 (1981).

^[3] See generally: Freed, "Equitable Distribution as of December 1982," 9 Fam. L. Rep. (BNA) 4001 (1983)...