Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) 25-211 Interpretation

In Arizona, all property acquired during marriage, absent certain enumerated exceptions, is presumed to be "community property" and each spouse has "equal management, control and disposition rights" over it, including "equal power to bind the community." See A.R.S. 25-211, -214. But Missouri law is different. Under Missouri's ownership scheme, spouses are unable to unilaterally "encumber or adversely affect the estate without the other's assent" because "neither spouse has exclusive management power." In re Garner, 952 F.2d 232, 235 (8th Cir. 1991). In Missouri, all property acquired after marriage, with few enumerated exceptions, is presumptively "marital property." Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.330(2). "When spouses jointly own property, it is presumed to be held as a tenancy by the entirety." See Capital Bank v. Barnes, 277 S.W.3d 781, 782 (Mo. Ct. App. 2009). When property is "held by the entirety the husband and wife hold it not as separate individuals but as one person." Niehaus v. Mitchell, 417 S.W.2d 509, 514 (Mo. Ct. App. 1967).