What IS community property?

by leevin on August 26, 2017

When I ask a potential client or client to identify community property, it’s very common to hear someone say: “Well, I did buy a car while we married, but it’s only in my name.” Although this may seem like common sense that if a car or home is only in one person’s name that they own it, that is not how Guam law defines community property.

Under Guam law, all property acquired during the marriage is presumed to be community property. (You can read the specific statute here). This means that if you buy a car or home while you are married, there is a presumption that it is community property and subject to division in a divorce case regardless of whether it’s only in one person’s name.

A related question is: what is “separate property?” I will address the most common examples of separate property in a separate entry.

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