A Texas property division must be “just and right,” but that does not necessarily mean equal. A court may consider a party’s fault in the division when determining how to divide the property, but it may not use the property division to punish the at-fault spouse. A former husband recently challenged his divorce decree, arguing in part that the court abused its discretion by not considering the wife’s adultery in its property division.
According to the appeals court, both parties were from India, but the husband was working in Texas prior to the marriage. The parties got married in India in 2004 and wife moved to Texas with the husband. They had two children together.
The husband petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery in October 2018. He asked the court to award him the marital residence. In her counterpetition, the wife alleged the husband had committed acts of cruelty. Both parties alleged fraud on the community by the other spouse.