Certain assets, especially stocks or assets related to a business, may be held in the name of just one spouse, even if they are community property. In a Texas divorce, a court may impose a constructive trust requiring the spouse to transfer property to the other spouse. Tex. Fam Code 9.011 provides that receipt by one spouse of certain installment or lump-sum payments that were awarded to the other spouse in a divorce decree gives rise to a fiduciary obligation and imposes a constructive trust on the property.
In a recent case, a former husband challenged the divorce decree that imposed a constructive trust on future payments to him as stockholder in a corporation, arguing that part of the payments should be considered his separate property.
The husband was an oncologist who was involved in the development of a drug to treat breast cancer. A corporation owned the patent rights for the drug and the husband acquired stocks equaling 30.33% ownership of the corporation with community funds.