Texas does not support legal separation and is also a community property state, meaning you are married until divorced, and all property acquired during the marriage is community property. The concept of community property is null for property owned before the marriage or acquired via gift (i.e. inheritance) and is thus only owned by the individual party.
However, in other states and some situations, a date of separation is very important as this is the date that determine the intent of dissolution the marriage and is used in the court to determine each spouses’ property rights.
Depending on the state, the date of separation can be physically moving out, notifying the other spouse of the intent to divorce, or physically filing for divorce.
Once a DOS is determined, the assets acquired after that date are considered individual property.
Those who are going through a divorce should speak with a lawyer to understand their individual case.