Community property

Community property laws consider husband and wife to be one in the eyes of the law and thus to own equally all the property earned by one or the other. This means that all income earned during marriage automatically belongs equally to both husband and wife. Only property acquired before marriage or received by gift or inheritance is outside of community property.

Community property is the law in southwestern and western states where there was an historic Spanish (Catholic) influence, including: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Washington. Wisconsin has recently adopted the community property laws for reasons unrelated to Spanish influence.