A Texas sworn Inventory and Appraisement is the notarized financial disclosure each spouse files in a divorce, listing every asset and debt in the marriage, assigning a value to each, and classifying each item as community or separate property. Texas family courts use it to divide the estate in a way the judge considers just and right under Texas Family Code Section 7.001.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 7.001 You sign it under oath, so every number and label needs to match the documents behind it.
When You Have to Produce One
Texas Family Code Section 6.502 lets a court order either or both spouses to produce a sworn inventory and appraisement of all real and personal property, together with a list of debts and liabilities.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 6.502 – Temporary Injunction and Other Temporary Orders Most Texas family courts build the requirement into their standing orders at the start of a divorce, which makes it effectively mandatory even when neither spouse asks for it. It also shows up as part of mandatory discovery disclosures early in the case. Your deadline is set by your court’s standing order, so pull that order and read the specific number of days it allows.
Classifying Each Item as Community or Separate
Every entry on the form gets one of two labels, and the label determines how the court can treat it.
Community property is anything either spouse acquired during the marriage that does not qualify as separate.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 3.002 – Community Property Wages earned during the marriage, a vehicle bought with marital funds, and retirement contributions made during the marriage all land here.
Separate property is narrower. It covers property you owned before the marriage, property you received during the marriage by gift or inheritance, and recoveries for personal injuries sustained during the marriage, except for the portion representing lost earning capacity.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 3.001 – Separate Property Texas law presumes that anything either spouse possesses during the marriage is community property, and overcoming that presumption takes clear and convincing evidence.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 3.003 – Presumption of Community Property Plan on documenting any separate claim rather than relying on your own say-so.
Documents to Pull Before You Write Anything
You need paper (or PDFs) behind every line. Gather these first:
- Deeds, mortgage statements, and recent appraisals or tax assessments for every property either spouse owns.
- Current statements for checking, savings, and money market accounts.
- Statements for 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, and government plans such as TRS or ERS.
- Brokerage statements covering stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and any cryptocurrency.
- Titles and loan payoff statements for vehicles, plus documentation for boats, jewelry, collectibles, and other high-value personal property.
- Current statements for credit cards, auto loans, student loans, medical bills, and other debts.
- Life insurance policies showing current cash surrender value, where applicable.
- At least the last two years of federal and state income tax returns, which often surface income sources or accounts you forgot about.
If you plan to claim an item as separate property, gather the proof now: a deed dated before the wedding, a bank statement from an inherited account, a will or gift letter.6Texas Law Help. Inventory and Appraisement of Property in a Divorce
Putting a Value on Each Item
The standard for valuation is fair market value, meaning the price a knowledgeable buyer would pay a knowledgeable seller when neither is under pressure to close.7Cornell Law Institute. Fair Market Value How you get to that number depends on the asset.
Your county appraisal district’s tax assessment gives a starting point for real estate, but it often misses the mark in either direction. When a property is a major piece of the estate, a licensed real estate appraiser is worth the fee, which for residential appraisals used in legal proceedings typically runs from a few hundred dollars into the low thousands. Kelley Blue Book and NADA Guides work for vehicles. Jewelry, antiques, and art may warrant a professional appraisal if their value is high enough to move the division.
Financial accounts are valued as of a specific date. Courts commonly use the date the divorce petition was filed, though your court may pick a different date. Pull statements for that date, not the most recent one. Debts go in at the current payoff balance, including accrued interest, not the original loan amount.
If either spouse owns all or part of a closely held business, expect to hire a business appraiser. Appraisers for divorce work generally weigh asset-based, market, and income-based approaches, and in Texas they also have to separate goodwill tied to the business from goodwill tied to the owner’s personal reputation, because the two can be treated differently in the division. Business appraisals for litigation can run from several thousand dollars to six figures depending on complexity.
Filling In the Schedules
Formatting varies by county, but the standard structure, visible in widely used versions such as the Harris County form, splits property and debts into three main schedules:8Harris County District Courts. Inventory and Appraisement
- Community property, with values.
- Separate property in your possession or control, claimed as yours or your spouse’s, with values.
- Community debts.
Describe each item precisely. “Checking account at Chase Bank ending in 4521, $8,340” tells the judge and your spouse exactly what you are disclosing. “Bank account, $8,000” does not. Use the last four digits of account numbers, physical addresses for real property, and the year, make, model, and VIN for vehicles. Vague entries invite disputes and slow the case.
Match every entry to the documents behind it. If the statement reads $8,340 and the form says $8,000, you have handed the other side a credibility problem.
Redacting Sensitive Information Before Filing
Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21c bars filing documents with unredacted sensitive data. Sensitive data covers Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, dates of birth, and home addresses.9Texas Courts. Texas Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 21c Before filing, replace the digits of account and identification numbers with “X,” leaving only enough to identify the account (the last four is standard). The filer bears responsibility for the redaction, not the clerk.
If a filing has to contain full sensitive data, flag it as containing sensitive data during electronic filing, or write “NOTICE: THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SENSITIVE DATA” at the upper left of the first page for a paper filing. Keep an unredacted copy in your own records through the end of the case and any appeals filed within six months after judgment.9Texas Courts. Texas Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 21c
Signing Under Oath
The inventory is sworn, meaning you sign in front of a Texas notary who administers an oath and witnesses the signature.6Texas Law Help. Inventory and Appraisement of Property in a Divorce10Texas Secretary of State. Notary Public The maximum a Texas notary can charge for administering an oath with certificate and seal is $10.11Texas Secretary of State. Notary Public Educational Information Banks, shipping stores, and law offices commonly offer the service.
Treat the oath seriously. Intentionally putting false information on a sworn document is perjury under Texas Penal Code Section 37.02, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.12State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 37.02 – Perjury
Filing With the Court and Serving Your Spouse
Once notarized, the inventory goes two places: the district clerk’s office in the county where the divorce is pending, and the opposing party or their attorney through an approved method of service. Some jurisdictions handle the inventory as a discovery exchange between the parties rather than a formal filing with the court, so check your standing order or local rules for the exact procedure.
If you need more time to pull records together, you and the other side can sign a Rule 11 Agreement extending the deadline. The agreement has to be in writing, signed by both parties, and filed with the court to be enforceable.13Texas Law Help. Rule 11 Agreements Missing the deadline without an extension can lead to the court excluding your evidence or imposing sanctions.
What Happens If You Leave Something Off
Omitting assets, whether on purpose or through carelessness, is costly. If the court finds that a spouse committed fraud on the community estate by concealing property, Texas Family Code Section 7.009 lets the judge calculate the value of the “reconstituted estate,” meaning what the community would have been worth without the fraud, and divide it in a way that makes the wronged spouse whole.14State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 7.009 The remedy can take the form of a larger share of the remaining community property, a money judgment against the concealing spouse, or both. An omission discovered after the divorce is final can even reopen the case. Disclose everything.
Retirement Accounts and Taxes in the Division
The values you put on retirement accounts and appreciated property feed into decisions that have their own legal and tax machinery.
Private-employer retirement plans governed by ERISA, including most 401(k)s, pensions, and profit-sharing plans, cannot pay benefits to anyone other than the participant unless the plan administrator receives a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO).15U.S. Department of Labor. Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Under ERISA Without one, the plan has to ignore the divorce decree. Texas government systems such as TRS and ERS use their own Domestic Relations Order (DRO); TRS will not pay an alternate payee without a DRO it has reviewed and qualified.16Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Divorce and Domestic Relations Order (DRO) Each plan has its own language requirements, so request model order language from the administrator before drafting. IRAs do not need a QDRO; they can be divided by a transfer incident to divorce directed by the decree, and the receiving spouse can roll the funds into their own IRA without tax or early withdrawal penalties, though a cash distribution instead of a rollover will trigger income tax.17Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – QDRO: Qualified Domestic Relations Order
Transfers between spouses as part of a divorce are generally not taxable. Under IRC Section 1041, no gain or loss is recognized on a transfer to a spouse or former spouse, as long as it occurs within one year after the marriage ends or is otherwise related to the divorce. The receiving spouse takes the transferor’s original basis, so tax is deferred, not erased. If you receive a home with a $200,000 basis and later sell it for $500,000, your taxable gain starts at $300,000 regardless of the home’s value on the day the divorce closed. Qualifying taxpayers can exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for joint filers, on the sale of a principal residence they owned and used as their primary home for at least two of the five years before the sale. Section 1041 does not apply if the receiving spouse is a nonresident alien.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1041 – Transfers of Property Between Spouses or Incident to Divorce An asset listed at $100,000 with a $20,000 basis is worth less after tax than $100,000 of cash, so the fair market values on your inventory are a starting point for negotiation, not the end of it.