Texas Community Property Laws for Debt Collectors & Judgment Creditors

🤠 Texas Community Property: The Creditor’s Overview

Texas presents one of the most challenging — and strategically interesting — enforcement environments in the United States. As a community property state, Texas gives creditors the theoretical ability to reach both spouses’ marital assets for community debts. But Texas simultaneously offers two of the most powerful debtor protections in any state: a constitutional prohibition on wage garnishment for most consumer debts, and an unlimited homestead exemption on the family home.

The result is that traditional wage garnishment and forced home sales — two primary collection tools in most other states — are off the table for most Texas consumer debt judgments. Creditors who succeed in Texas pivot aggressively to non-exempt assets: bank accounts, vehicles, business interests, oil and gas royalties, investment accounts, and community property held in the non-debtor spouse’s name.

This guide is written for attorneys, debt collectors, property managers, small business owners, and professional skip tracers pursuing judgment enforcement against married debtors across all 254 Texas counties — from the Houston Ship Channel to the Permian Basin to the Rio Grande Valley.

⚖️ What Counts as Community Property in Texas?

Under Texas Family Code § 3.002, community property is all property, other than separate property, acquired by either spouse during the marriage. Texas applies a strong community property presumption: any property in the possession of a spouse during or on dissolution of marriage is presumed community property. The burden of proving separate status falls on the person claiming it — by clear and convincing evidence.

🏠 Community Property: What’s Included

• 💵Wages, salaries, bonuses, and all earned income of either spouse during the marriage
• 🏠Real property (other than the homestead) purchased during marriage with community funds
• 🚗Vehicles purchased with community earnings during the marriage
• 🛢️Oil, gas, and mineral royalties earned during marriage on community mineral rights
• 📈Investment and brokerage accounts funded with marital income
• 🏦Bank and savings accounts funded with community earnings
• 🏢Business interests started or substantially grown using community funds or labor
• 💰Retirement accounts funded during the marriage (401k, pension accruals)
• 🐄Livestock, farm, and ranch assets acquired during marriage with community funds

📅 When Does the Community Begin and End?

Texas’s community property regime begins on the date of marriage and ends upon divorce, annulment, or death of either spouse. As in most community property states, physical separation alone does not end the community in Texas — a formal divorce decree is required. Debts and assets accumulated while living separately but prior to divorce are still community property. This can significantly extend your reach into assets the debtor may consider “post-separation.”

👩‍⚖️ Spousal Liability for Debts in Texas

Texas Family Code § 3.202 governs liability of community property for marital debts. For a debt that is a community obligation — incurred by either spouse for the benefit of the marital community — the creditor can reach all community property regardless of which spouse’s name is on the asset. This is a powerful tool in Texas where the non-debtor spouse’s community income and assets may be the primary collection target.

🔴 Community Debts — Full Community at Risk

• 🏠Mortgage obligations on non-homestead community real property
• 💳Credit cards and consumer loans for household or family purposes
• 🏥Medical bills for either spouse or dependent children
• 🚗Vehicle loans on community automobiles
• 💼Business debts from a community-operated enterprise
• 🛢️Oil lease operating costs and mineral development debts during marriage
• 🐄Ranch and farming operating loans incurred during marriage

🟢 Separate Debts — Limited Reach

Under Texas Family Code § 3.202(c), a spouse’s separate debts can only be satisfied from that spouse’s separate property. The other spouse’s property — both separate and sole-management community — is protected from the debtor’s pre-marital or non-community debts. This is a significant limitation creditors must understand before levying assets in the non-debtor spouse’s name.

🔒 Separate Property: What Creditors Cannot Touch

Texas Family Code § 3.001 defines separate property. These assets are shielded from the creditors of the other spouse, and for non-community debts, shielded from the debtor’s own creditors.

🚫 Texas Wage Garnishment: The Constitutional Prohibition

Texas’s prohibition on wage garnishment is not a statute — it is written directly into the Texas Constitution, Article XVI, Section 28. This makes it one of the strongest debtor wage protections in the United States. It cannot be changed by the legislature alone; it would require a constitutional amendment approved by Texas voters.

🎯 What to Target When Wages Are Exempt

The Texas wage exemption forces creditors to think broadly and creatively about which assets to pursue. Here is a practical framework for identifying viable collection targets in Texas.

⚖️ Texas Turnover Orders: A Powerful Alternative

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 31.002 provides one of the most powerful post-judgment collection tools in the country: the turnover order. A court can order the judgment debtor to turn over non-exempt assets — including ownership interests in businesses, contractual rights, and other personal property — directly to a receiver or the creditor. Turnover orders effectively reach assets that are difficult to levy through traditional writ of execution, and courts apply them broadly in Texas. See our judgment collection playbook for strategic guidance on Texas turnover proceedings.

🏠 Judgment Liens on Texas Real Property

While Texas’s unlimited homestead exemption blocks forced sale of the family home, judgment liens remain a critical enforcement tool for non-homestead real property. Investment properties, commercial real estate, ranch land beyond homestead acreage limits, and vacation homes are all reachable through a properly recorded abstract of judgment.

📋 How to Record a Judgment Lien in Texas

1. 🏛️ Obtain your certified money judgmentGet a certified copy from the district or county court clerk. For out-of-state judgments, domesticate in Texas district court under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 35.001 (Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act).
2. 📋 Record Abstract of Judgment with County ClerkFile an Abstract of Judgment with the County Clerk in each Texas county where the debtor owns or may own non-exempt real property. The lien attaches to all non-exempt real property in that county upon indexing.
3. 🔍 Search strategically across 254 countiesTexas has more counties than any other U.S. state — 254. Debtors often hold investment property, ranch land, and commercial real estate in multiple counties. Our statewide search covers all 254 counties including the Permian Basin, the Hill Country, and the Rio Grande Valley.
4. 🏠 The homestead does NOT protect non-homestead propertyThe debtor can own only ONE homestead in Texas. All other real property — second homes, rentals, raw land, commercial real estate — is subject to your judgment lien and potentially to forced sale.
5. 🔄 Renew before the 10-year expirationTexas judgment liens last 10 years from the date of recording. File renewal before expiration to maintain priority and continue clouding title on non-exempt real property.

See our guides on placing judgment liens on property and the national judgment lien guide by state.

🛡️ Texas Property Exemptions: What You Cannot Take

Texas has some of the most generous personal property exemptions in the country. Understanding them in detail prevents wasted enforcement efforts and helps you focus on genuinely reachable assets.

🛢️ Oil, Gas & Mineral Assets in Texas

Texas is the largest oil and gas producing state in the country. For debt collectors and judgment creditors, this creates a unique and often overlooked collection opportunity: oil and gas royalties, mineral lease bonuses, and working interest income are not wages — they are NOT protected by Texas’s wage exemption, and if acquired or earned during marriage using community resources, they may be reachable community property.

Our investigators run dedicated oil and gas asset searches including Texas Railroad Commission records, mineral deed filings in county deed records, and royalty payment tracing through state databases. This is a collection avenue that national collection firms routinely miss — and it can be significant in Texas cases involving debtors from oil-producing regions.

🔍 Skip Tracing Married Debtors in Texas

Texas is the second largest state by land area — 268,596 square miles — with 254 counties, 30 million residents, and dramatic geographic and economic diversity from the Houston Ship Channel and Dallas Metroplex to West Texas oil country, the Rio Grande Valley, and the Trans-Pecos desert. Our investigators have been serving Texas creditors since 2004 with deep coverage across every region of the state.

🎯 What We Locate for Texas Creditors

We cover all major Texas metros — Houston skip tracing, Dallas skip tracing, San Antonio skip tracing, and all 254 counties. Learn more in our Complete Guide to Skip Tracing.

📋 Step-by-Step: Collecting from a Married Texas Debtor

Here is a practical enforcement roadmap for Texas judgment creditors. Because wages and the homestead are exempt, every step is built around identifying and pursuing the non-exempt community assets that Texas’s large and diverse economy produces in abundance.

1. 🔍 Confirm marital status and identify the spouseTexas community continues until formal divorce — physical separation means nothing legally. Confirm the debtor’s married status and identify the spouse using our marital status investigation. The non-debtor spouse’s community assets may be your primary target.
2. ⚖️ Analyze whether your debt is a community obligationReview the underlying transaction carefully against Texas Family Code § 3.202’s sole-management rules. Is this a joint management community debt? If yes, you can reach both spouses’ community assets. If it’s a sole-management community debt, your reach is more limited.
3. 🏠 Run comprehensive asset search across all 254 countiesIdentify ALL non-exempt assets: non-homestead real property, business interests, oil royalties, investment accounts, vehicles above the exemption. Do NOT stop at the homestead and wages — those are blocked. Use our professional asset search service.
4. 📋 Record Abstract of Judgment in all relevant countiesFile in every county where either spouse owns non-exempt real property. The 10-year lien window clouds title on all investment properties, ranch land, and commercial real estate. Even if forced sale isn’t viable today, the lien blocks any future transaction.
5. 🏦 Levy bank accounts via writ of executionTarget accounts likely to contain non-wage deposits: business revenue, oil royalties, rental income, and investment proceeds. Obtain a writ of execution and serve it on known financial institutions through the county constable or sheriff.
6. ⚖️ Pursue turnover order for hard-to-levy assetsUnder Texas CPRC § 31.002, petition the court for a turnover order compelling the debtor to surrender non-exempt assets — business interests, contractual rights, pending receivables — that can’t easily be seized by writ. This is one of Texas’s most powerful collection tools.
7. 🚗 Levy vehicles with equity above exemptionFor vehicles with equity above $60,000 (family cap), coordinate with the county constable for levy. Our vehicle location service identifies current registration and lien status.
8. 📋 Conduct debtor examinationUnder Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, compel the debtor to appear and disclose all assets under oath. Ask specifically about oil royalties, business income, out-of-state property, and non-wage deposit sources. See our debtor examination guide.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🔗 Related Texas & Community Property Resources

📍 Texas-Specific Guides

⚖️ Other Community Property States

🔍 Enforcement & Collection Guides