pjc-family-2024-lib

PJC 202.15

C HARACTERIZATION OF P ROPERTY

PJC 202.15 Personal and Marital Property Liability A person is personally liable for the acts of the person’s spouse only if the spouse acts as an agent for the person or the spouse incurs a debt for necessar ies. A spouse does not act as an agent for the other spouse solely based on the existence of the marriage relationship. Unless both spouses are personally liable as described in the paragraph above, the community property subject to a spouse’s sole management, control, and disposition is not subject to any liabilities that the other spouse incurred before marriage or any nontortious liabilities that the other spouse incurs during marriage. The community property subject to a spouse’s sole or joint management, control, and disposition is subject to the liabilities incurred by that spouse before or during marriage. All community property is subject to tortious liability of either spouse incurred during marriage. Except as provided above, community property is not subject to a liability that arises from an act of a spouse. A spouse’s separate property is not subject to liabilities of the other spouse unless both spouses are liable by other rules of law. COMMENT Source. The first paragraph of the foregoing instruction is based on Tex. Fam. Code § 3.201(a), (c). The second, third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs are based on Tex. Fam. Code §§ 3.201(b), 3.202(b)–(d). The sixth paragraph is based on Tex. Fam. Code § 3.202(a). When to use. If there is an issue whether a spouse is personally liable or whether certain marital property is subject to liability, relevant portions of the foregoing instruction should be given with PJC 202.1 (separate and community property) and, if appropriate, PJC 202.14 (management, control, and disposition of marital property).

62