Community Property States (2026): Every State’s Marital Property System, With Statutes
This page compares the marital property system in all 50 states and the District of Columbia: which states are community property states, which are common law separate-property states, and which common law states let couples opt into community property treatment through a trust. The main table covers 51 jurisdictions and links each entry to the state’s own official code or legislature site. Six entries could not be linked to a free official source this review cycle; the methodology section explains why. This page is checked each September.
Cite this page: Ridley Law, “Community Property States (2026): Every State’s Marital Property System, With Statutes,” ridleylawoffices.com/community-property-states/, September 2026.
Key findings
- Nine states are community property states by statute: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, whose Uniform Marital Property Act works the same way without using the term “community property.”
- Five states let couples opt into community property treatment through a trust: Alaska (since 1998), Tennessee (since 2010), South Dakota (since 2016), Kentucky (since 2020), and Florida (since 2021).
- Every other state and the District of Columbia is a common law, separate-property jurisdiction, where property generally belongs to whichever spouse holds title to it.
- Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(b)(6), community property gets a full basis step-up on both halves when the first spouse dies. In a common law state, property the spouses own jointly gets a new basis only on the deceased spouse’s share.
- California uses quasi-community property (Cal. Fam. Code § 125) to treat out-of-state property the way it would have treated it had the couple always lived in California.
- South Dakota’s statute goes further than most: it says directly that a South Dakota special spousal trust is meant to qualify as community property “for purposes of the application of 26 U.S.C. § 1014(b)(6),” current through the January 1, 2026 version of the federal code (SDCL 55-17-5, as amended by SL 2026, ch. 198).
Marital property system by state
The table lists all 50 states and the District of Columbia. “Community property” means the state treats most property acquired during marriage as owned equally by both spouses. “Common law (separate property)” means property generally belongs to whichever spouse holds title to it. Five common law states also let couples opt into community property treatment for some or all of their property by creating a qualifying trust.
| State | Marital property system | Governing statute | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Community property | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-211(A) | Standard community property definition statute. |
| California | Community property | Cal. Fam. Code § 760 | Core California community property presumption. |
| Idaho | Community property | Idaho Code § 32-906(1) | Idaho’s core community property statute. |
| Louisiana | Community property | La. Civ. Code art. 2338 | Louisiana defines community property by Civil Code article, not a standalone act. |
| Nevada | Community property | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 123.220 | Standard community property definition statute. |
| New Mexico | Community property | N.M. Stat. Ann. § 40-3-8(B) | NM Compilation Commission publishes the chapter as one scrolling document; cite chapter URL plus section. |
| Texas | Community property | Tex. Fam. Code § 3.002 | Standard community property definition statute. |
| Washington | Community property | Wash. Rev. Code § 26.16.030 | Extends community property to state-registered domestic partnerships. |
| Wisconsin | Community property | Wis. Stat. § 766.31(1)-(2) | Uniform Marital Property Act (in effect since 1986); functions as Wisconsin’s community property system though the statute itself uses ‘marital property,’ not ‘community property.’ |
| Alaska | Common law (opt-in community property trust available) | Alaska Community Property Act, AS 34.77.100 | First opt-in community property statute; effective May 23, 1998 (AS 34.77.996(7)). |
| Tennessee | Common law (opt-in community property trust available) | Tennessee Community Property Trust Act of 2010, Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-17-101 et seq. | 2010 Pub. Ch. 658, approved March 25, 2010, effective July 1, 2010; definitions amended by 2023 Pub. Ch. 166, § 12, approved April 2023. |
| South Dakota | Common law (opt-in community property trust available) | South Dakota Special Spousal Trust, SDCL 55-17-1 et seq. | SL 2016, ch. 231, § 29; amended SL 2018, ch. 275 and SL 2026, ch. 198, § 8 (updating the federal conformity date in § 55-17-5 to January 1, 2026). |
| Kentucky | Common law (opt-in community property trust available) | Kentucky Community Property Trust Act, KRS 386.622 | Created 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 25, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2020. |
| Florida | Common law (opt-in community property trust available) | Community Property Trust Act, Fla. Stat. § 736.1503 | Ch. 2021-183, Laws of Florida, s. 31; effective July 1, 2021, and limited to trusts created on or after that date. |
| Alabama | Common law (separate property) | Not yet confirmed against an official source | Common law/separate property. No linkable official-source citation confirmed this review cycle. |
| Arkansas | Common law (separate property) | Not yet confirmed against an official source | Common law/separate property. No linkable official-source citation confirmed this review cycle. |
| Colorado | Common law (separate property) | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 14-2-201 | Common law/separate property; amended 2018 (SB 18-090), effective August 8, 2018. |
| Connecticut | Common law (separate property) | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36 | Common law/separate property. |
| Delaware | Common law (separate property) | 13 Del. C. § 311 | Common law/separate property. |
| District of Columbia | Common law (separate property) | D.C. Code § 46-601 | Common law/separate property. |
| Georgia | Common law (separate property) | Not yet confirmed against an official source | Common law/separate property. No linkable official-source citation confirmed this review cycle. |
| Hawaii | Common law (separate property) | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 572-21 | Common law/separate property. |
| Illinois | Common law (separate property) | 750 Ill. Comp. Stat. 65/9 | Common law/separate property; Rights of Married Persons Act. |
| Indiana | Common law (separate property) | Not yet confirmed against an official source | Common law/separate property. No linkable official-source citation confirmed this review cycle. |
| Iowa | Common law (separate property) | Iowa Code § 597.1 | Common law/separate property; descends from Married Women’s Property Act lineage. |
| Kansas | Common law (separate property) | Kan. Stat. Ann. § 23-2601 | Common law/separate property; 2013-recodified from former § 23-201(a). |
| Maine | Common law (separate property) | 19-A M.R.S. § 802 | Common law/separate property. |
| Maryland | Common law (separate property) | Md. Code Ann., Fam. Law § 8-201(e) | Common law/separate property; this defines marital property for division at divorce, not ownership during an intact marriage. |
| Massachusetts | Common law (separate property) | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209, § 1 | Common law/separate property. |
| Michigan | Common law (separate property) | Mich. Comp. Laws § 557.21 | Common law/separate property; Married Women’s Property Act analog. |
| Minnesota | Common law (separate property) | Minn. Stat. § 519.02 | Common law/separate property. |
| Mississippi | Common law (separate property) | Not yet confirmed against an official source | Common law/separate property. No linkable official-source citation confirmed this review cycle. |
| Missouri | Common law (separate property) | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 451.250 | Common law/separate property. |
| Montana | Common law (separate property) | Mont. Code Ann. § 40-2-202 | Common law/separate property; Montana’s 1974 community property act was repealed. |
| Nebraska | Common law (separate property) | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-201 | Common law/separate property; Married Women’s Property Act provision. |
| New Hampshire | Common law (separate property) | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 460:2 | Common law/separate property. |
| New Jersey | Common law (separate property) | Not yet confirmed against an official source | Common law/separate property. No linkable official-source citation confirmed this review cycle. |
| New York | Common law (separate property) | N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 3-301 | Common law/separate property. |
| North Carolina | Common law (separate property) | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 52-1 | Common law/separate property; gender-neutral. |
| North Dakota | Common law (separate property) | N.D. Cent. Code § 14-07-04 | Common law/separate property; Field Code lineage shared with California and Montana. |
| Ohio | Common law (separate property) | Ohio Rev. Code § 3103.04 | Common law/separate property. |
| Oklahoma | Common law (separate property) | Okla. Stat. tit. 43, § 203 | Common law/separate property; renumbered from 32 O.S. § 4 in 1989. |
| Oregon | Common law (separate property) | Or. Rev. Stat. § 108.060 | Common law/separate property; governs ownership during an intact marriage; amended 2015 c.629 §20 to gender-neutral text. |
| Pennsylvania | Common law (separate property) | 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3501(a) | Common law/separate property; equitable-distribution definition used at divorce, not an intact-marriage ownership rule. Chapter 35 added 1990, P.L.1240, No.206. |
| Rhode Island | Common law (separate property) | R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-4-1 | Common law/separate property; current Married Women’s Property Act provision. |
| South Carolina | Common law (separate property) | S.C. Code § 20-3-630 | Common law/separate property; marital-property/equitable-apportionment definition used at divorce, not an intact-marriage rule. |
| Utah | Common law (separate property) | Utah Code § 81-3-105(2) | Common law/separate property; ‘Rights and Obligations During Marriage,’ renumbered from Title 30 effective 9/1/2024. |
| Vermont | Common law (separate property) | 15 V.S.A. § 751 | Common law/separate property; divorce property-settlement statute, not an intact-marriage ownership rule. |
| Virginia | Common law (separate property) | Va. Code § 20-107.3(A)(1) | Common law/separate property; equitable-distribution statute, division at divorce only. |
| West Virginia | Common law (separate property) | W. Va. Code § 48-1-237 | Common law/separate property; general domestic relations definitions section applied at equitable distribution. |
| Wyoming | Common law (separate property) | Wyo. Stat. § 20-1-201 | Common law/separate property; current Married Women’s Property Act-style statute. |
What happens when spouses move between systems
Marital property law is set by the state where a couple is domiciled when they acquire property, and that classification generally does not change just because the couple later moves to a different state. A couple who buys a house while living in a common law state keeps that house as separate or jointly titled property (whatever the title says) even after they move to California. California addresses this with the doctrine of quasi-community property.
Quasi-community property is property, wherever located, that either spouse acquired while living outside California that would have been community property if the couple had been domiciled in California when they acquired it. The definition applies both during marriage and at death.
- During marriage, quasi-community property is defined at Cal. Fam. Code § 125.
- At death, the same concept is defined at Cal. Prob. Code § 66, and Cal. Prob. Code § 101 gives the surviving spouse one half of the decedent’s quasi-community property, with the other half belonging to the decedent’s estate.
Practically, this means a California resident who moves in from a common law state does not automatically lose the community-property character California law would have given the asset. It also means the reverse is not automatic: a couple who built up community property in California and later moves to a common law state generally keeps that community property character for the assets already acquired, though the destination state’s own law controls anything acquired after the move.
The federal tax reason this comparison matters
Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(b)(6), when the first spouse in a community property marriage dies, both halves of the couple’s community property get a new income tax basis equal to fair market value on the date of death, not just the half the decedent owned. That is the “double step-up.” In a common law separate-property or joint-tenancy state, only the deceased spouse’s own half gets a new basis; the surviving spouse’s half keeps its original, often much lower, basis.
That gap is why Alaska, Tennessee, South Dakota, Kentucky, and Florida built opt-in community property trust statutes for couples who are not domiciled in one of the nine traditional community property states. The trusts are designed so the couple’s assets meet the definition of community property under state law, which is the term Section 1014(b)(6) actually uses.
Whether the IRS will treat property in an opt-in community property trust the same as property in a traditional community property state is not settled. No Treasury regulation or published IRS revenue ruling addresses opt-in community property trusts specifically. Section 1014(b)(6) itself only asks whether the property was “community property… under the community property laws of any State,” without saying how the state got there or how long the property has to have held that status. Couples considering one of these trusts should treat the double step-up as the trust’s design goal, not a guaranteed result, and get tax advice specific to their situation before relying on it.
| Community property state | Opt-in community property trust | Common law state | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis at the first spouse’s death | Both halves get a new basis equal to fair market value | Double step-up is the trust’s design goal, not a guaranteed result | Only the deceased spouse’s own half gets a new basis |
| Where it applies | Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin | Alaska, Tennessee, South Dakota, Kentucky, Florida | Every other state and the District of Columbia |
| IRS treatment | Settled | Not settled; no Treasury regulation or published revenue ruling addresses it specifically | Not applicable |
What this means in California
California is one of the nine traditional community property states. Under Cal. Fam. Code § 760, property either spouse acquires during the marriage while domiciled in California is community property unless a statute says otherwise. At the first spouse’s death, Cal. Prob. Code § 100 confirms that half of the community property belongs to the surviving spouse outright, and the other half belongs to the decedent and passes under the decedent’s estate plan.
That combination, community property ownership plus the full basis adjustment under Section 1014(b)(6), is why California couples get the double step-up automatically, without a trust or an election. It is also why how title is held, and whether an asset is separate or community property, matters so much in a California estate plan. For more on how that works: Understanding California’s Community Property Laws in Estate Planning, Community Property With Right of Survivorship vs. Joint Tenancy, Community Property vs. Separate Property Step-Up in California, and the Community Property Tracer. For definitions, see the glossary entries for community property and separate property.
Related pages on this site
- Understanding California’s Community Property Laws in Estate Planning
- Community Property With Right of Survivorship in California
- Community Property vs. Separate Property Step-Up in California
- Community Property vs. Separate Property in Trust Administration
- Community Property Tracer
- Glossary: Community Property
- Glossary: Separate Property
Methodology
Every statute cited on this page was pulled directly from the state’s own legislature or official code publisher site (or, for the federal statute, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s U.S. Code site) in September 2026. No aggregator, legal directory, or AI summary site was used as a source, only as a way to locate a citation before confirming it against the official text.
Six states are listed without a hyperlinked statute because their text could not be confirmed against a free official government source this review cycle: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Indiana, whose official statute sites are search applications that could not be queried directly this month; Mississippi, whose official code is a subscription product with no public government full-text site; and New Jersey, whose statute database is likewise a search application that could not be queried directly. All six are still shown as common law, separate-property states, which is not in dispute; only the specific citation link is withheld until it can be confirmed against an official source.
A few other citations on this page come from official sites that block automated requests but were confirmed through direct access to the page (New York and Hawaii). The official statute sites for New Mexico and Texas publish current law only through a scrolling or JavaScript-driven viewer rather than one URL per section; the links given go to the correct chapter or section within that viewer.
This page is checked each September. If you find an error, a superseded statute, or a state that has changed its law, email eric@ridleylawoffices.com.
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