78R364 JMM-F

By:  Dutton                                                       H.B. No. 885



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the rights of spouses in relation to separate and 
community property.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 4.102, Family Code, is amended to read as 
follows:       
	Sec. 4.102.  PARTITION OR EXCHANGE OF [COMMUNITY] PROPERTY.  
At any time, the spouses may partition or exchange between 
themselves all or [any] part of their [community] property, then 
existing or to be acquired, as the spouses may desire.  Property or 
a property interest transferred to a spouse by a partition or 
exchange agreement becomes that spouse's separate property.  The 
partition or exchange of property includes earnings and income 
arising from the property.
	SECTION 2.  Section 7.002, Family Code, is amended to read as 
follows:       
	Sec. 7.002.  DIVISION AND DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN PROPERTY 
ACQUIRED IN ANOTHER STATE [UNDER SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES].  (a) In 
addition to the division of the estate of the parties required by 
Section 7.001, in a decree of divorce or annulment the court shall 
order a division of the following real and personal property, 
wherever situated, in a manner that the court deems just and right, 
having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of 
the marriage:
		(1)  property that was acquired by either spouse while 
domiciled in another state and that would have been community 
property if the spouse who acquired the property had been domiciled 
in this state at the time of the acquisition;  or
		(2)  property that was acquired by either spouse in 
exchange for real or personal property and that would have been 
community property if the spouse who acquired the property so 
exchanged had been domiciled in this state at the time of its 
acquisition.
	(b)  In a decree of divorce or annulment, the court shall 
award to a spouse the following real and personal property, 
wherever situated, as the separate property of the spouse:
		(1)  property that was acquired by the spouse while 
domiciled in another state and that would have been the spouse's 
separate property if the spouse had been domiciled in this state at 
the time of acquisition;  or
		(2)  property that was acquired by the spouse in 
exchange for real or personal property and that would have been the 
spouse's separate property if the spouse had been domiciled in this 
state at the time of acquisition.
	SECTION 3.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                       
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act by the amendment of 
Section 4.102, Family Code, applies only to an agreement to 
partition or exchange property made on or after the effective date 
of this Act.  An agreement made before the effective date of this 
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the agreement was 
made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	(c)  The change in law made by this Act by the amendment of 
Section 7.002, Family Code, applies to a suit for dissolution of a 
marriage pending before a trial court on or filed on or after the 
effective date of this Act.