Respectfully request advice as newly divorced dad

I have not read all the comments so if this has been mentioned please forgive me. Texas, from a quick Google search....is a community property state. There is no hers is hers mine is mine. You BOTH own half of everything, the debt, in its entirety, is owed by both...assuming that you have lived in Texas long enough for its laws to apply. In AZ, even property owned prior to the marriage is community property. My now Ex thought that if we agreed that I would get all the equity in the house, and we signed an agreement stating that by "giving" me all the equity in the house I would use it to cover her half of the debt. Well....it does not work that way. Let say that you are down to your final mortgage payment on your house..that the deed is in your name because you owned it prior to getting married...and you make that payment from a joint account with her....well....half of the house is now hers.
Obvious Texas laws differ from AZ so you may want to read this....
FAMILY CODE CHAPTER 3. MARITAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES
I know both here in Washington state and Arizona we were able to sign a quick claim on the properties....it clearly states, at least here, that our property is "the sole and separate property" of Ernie. We did this for the simple fact that should I go off on a rage induced spree and injure/kill someone that persons family would not be able to sue "us" and attach a garnishment/lien on the property.
When I got divorced in AZ my attorney said that the community property laws have many loopholes when it comes to debt. Generally, if only one spouse signed for responsibility for a debt they are the ones responsible. However, if a payment was ever made on that debt from a joint account well...you are both on the hook. Even if it was not a joint account, but the other person made a deposit in that account at some point it is considered a joint account. I ran up a **** ton of debt after my Ex left, it was while we were going thru the divorce. When the creditors came knocking on her door it was not only for the debt that she signed for but also ALL of the debt I ran up on my own.
This is the reason Ernie & I do not have a joint banking account...nor do we have any joint debt.
And just so you know what happened to me and my Ex....all of our bank accounts were with the same credit union. We had our joint account and we each had our own personal account. Well....at least in the state of AZ....credit unions are allowed to "cross collateralize". We had a joint credit card. When this card went into default they obviously called/mailed both of us. Obviously we no longer had a joint account but we both had our personal accounts.....and the credit union emptied both of them to get what they could on what we owed. Again...Texas may be different.
Best of luck to you....