Determining what is community property in Washington State, which is a term used in Washington and six other states, community property is property that is owned by the marital community.  Once two people become married they become a community.  Property that is owned by that community then is community property.  For example, if you get married and you then buy a house using only your wages that you earned during marriage that house is community property.  If you own a car and then you get married and you still own that car after marriage that car doesn't convert into community property because you owned it before marriage, it remains separate property.  So, the longer a marriage goes on you can see that there are many different facets and types of property that can have multiple components.  But the easy answer is community property is property that is owned by the community.

Molly B. Kenny
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Divorce and Child Custody Attorney Serving Bellevue and Seattle Washington