Community property is observed in the following states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. All other states follow the rule of separate property (see definition).
In most cases, community property includes all property, assets and debts acquired during the marriage. Community property is considered to be owned equally by the wife and husband. It includes money and wages earned during marriage as well as anything purchased with that money.
In a community property state, a spouse may only give away their half of the interest in any community property. The other half automatically goes to the surviving spouse. For instance, if a coin collection is community property, the husband may only give away one-half interest in the collection through a will or living trust.
Any separate property may be fully given to anyone though a will.