Community property is a form of property ownership in certain states that provides that a husband and wife each own a one-half interest in the other's assets and earnings during the course of their marriage.
Currently, community property states are: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. In addition, Puerto Rico is a community property jurisdiction. Married couples in Alaska can also adopt community property rules, at least for the purposes of that state's law, by signing an agreement to that effect.
In a community property state, all property accumulated during the marriage belongs equally (50% each) to both the husband and the wife. The only exceptions are property that is received as a gift or inherited by one spouse or the other and separate property owned exclusively by either spouse prior to the marriage and never commingled with community property.
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