quasi-community property

Quasi-community property is the property spouses acquired when they were not domiciled in a community property state. Community property states (i.e. Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin - Alaska allows spouses to choose whether to apply the community property approach or not) apply quasi-community property to regulate property located outside the court’s jurisdiction in probate or divorce. Like community property, the quasi-community property will be allocated equally between spouses.

In California law, if spouses domiciled in California or relocated to California, and they were seeking marital status change here, then community property rule will be applied to the property they acquired outside California, even if the property was acquired at the time when it’s not subject to California’s community property rules. 

In Washington law, spouses acquired property when living outside in Washington. Then they divorce or one spouse survives the other here, seeking to acquire that property, the court will apply quasi-community property rule according to the type of property. If it’s personal property, it will be defined as quasi-community property directly. If it’s real estate, then the law of property’s location decides. If that state uses the law of the owner’s domicile, the quasi-community property rule will apply. If the state applies its own law and it’s not the community state, the rule will not apply. 

See also: Marital property, Separate property, Estates and trusts

[Last updated in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]