Property divisions in Texas divorces are intended to be final. Although a party may appeal or seek to enforce a property division, they generally cannot relitigate it in a separate lawsuit. Sometimes, however, the divorce decree does not adjudicate all of the parties’ property. A former spouse may file suit to divide property that was not divided in the decree. Tex. Fam. Code § 9.201.
In a recent case, a former husband filed suit to divide property that he alleged had not been divided in the parties’ 2009 divorce.
According to the ex-husband’s pleading, the parties got married in 1981. He alleged the ex-wife bought property in Colorado while they were married, but that property was not addressed in the 2009 decree because they “agreed to divide the property among themselves later.” He also alleged the ex-wife notified him she would not comply with the agreement in 2023 and transferred the property to someone else. The ex-husband requested clarification that the property in Colorado was community property and asked for a one-half interest in it, along with fees and costs.