How to Transfer Separate Property to Community Property in Texas
- 1). Find an attorney who handles family law matters. Although you can get a referral from your existing attorney, it is best that you not use your attorney or your spouse's attorney, to avoid possible later claims of undue influence. If you or your spouse does not already have an attorney, then contact your local or county bar association which will provide you with the contact information for at least three attorneys whom you should visit. Then select the one with whom you feel the most comfortable.
- 2). Decide which property you wish to transfer to community. Then gather the identifying information for that property. If it is real estate, then you will need something which gives the full legal description of the property.
- 3). Set a second appointment with the attorney you chose in Step 1, take the information you gathered in Step 2, and ask the attorney to draft an agreement. Do not allow the attorney to draft the agreement while you wait, as this might look like pressure or undue influence. Instead, ask the attorney to draft the agreement and either email, fax or mail it to you and your spouse.
- 4). Review the agreement, write down any questions you have, and schedule an appointment with the attorney to finalize it. Ask the attorney if you need to bring two witnesses or if he will provide them. Although Texas law does not require that the agreement be witnessed, it is a good idea to have witnesses who can later testify that the agreement was entered into voluntarily by both parties.
- 5). Sign the agreement before your witnesses. If the agreement involves real estate, it needs to be filed with the county office of deed records, and you must pay a filing fee. If the agreement involves investments, savings or related financial properties, you need to send copies to the administrator, trustee or other appropriate person