## Facts

- Husband and wife married while the husband pursued medical school and eventual licensure as a physician.
- Early in the marriage both worked as school teachers, and they agreed the husband would attend medical school while the wife continued working.
- During the husband’s medical education, a substantial portion of marital expenses was paid from the wife’s earnings and other community resources.
- The trial court found the parties invested about $40,000 in the husband’s medical education and that he became a licensed physician in Texas.
- After licensure, the husband sometimes earned substantial income, but his employment and earnings were inconsistent.
- In dividing the community estate on divorce, the trial court ordered the husband to pay the wife $20,000 in $200 monthly installments “as a part of the division of the estate” and as “reimbursement” for her share of community educational expenses.
- The husband appealed only the $20,000 reimbursement component; the remainder of the decree (including child support, attorney’s fees, and other property division) was not challenged.

## Issues

1. Whether a professional education, degree, or medical license acquired during marriage is community property or a divisible property right upon divorce.
2. Whether a spouse may receive a separate reimbursement award in the property division for community funds expended on the other spouse’s education and training.

## Decision

- The court reversed and rendered judgment that the wife take nothing on the $20,000 reimbursement claim.
- The court held that a professional education, degree, or license obtained during marriage is not community property and is not divisible on divorce.
- The court held that Texas law did not authorize a separate, quantified reimbursement award solely because community funds were used for one spouse’s professional education.
- The remainder of the divorce decree was affirmed.

## Legal Principles

- A professional degree, license, or education is a personal attribute tied to the individual and is not a transferable property interest subject to division as community property.
- Enhanced earning capacity derived from education is not itself a community asset; it is not assigned an exchange value and divided like property.
- Community expenditures on a spouse’s education do not create an independent, dollar-for-dollar reimbursement entitlement as a distinct item in the marital property division.
- Any inequity from educational expenditures may be addressed through the overall “just and right” division of the community estate rather than by treating the education as a reimbursable asset.

## Conclusion

The appellate court set aside the trial court’s $20,000 educational-expense reimbursement award, concluding that a medical education and license earned during marriage are not divisible community property and that community spending on such education does not support a separate reimbursement award in the divorce property division.


Frausto v. Frausto, 611 S.W.2d 656 (Tex. Civ. App.—San Antonio 1980)