What is community property?

Several states, such as California and Texas, have a system of property known as community property. In this system, each spouse only owns half of their income and property purchased with their income - the other half is owned by their spouse. Thus, any property that is jointly owned by a married couple as community property cannot entirely become part of the probate estate when one spouse dies. Instead, only that spouse’s half-owned part of the asset is part of the probate estate, as the still-living spouse retains ownership of the other half.