Property from one spouse’s parent does not become community property.
If both spouses use it and make improvements, or it is put in both of their names, it can become community property, but the share of it that was a gift or inheritance is considered a separate contribution to community property that can be taken back in a divorce.
So you inherit land from mom, build a house on it with spouse, and sell on divorce, it is split equally at first but the value of the land at the time it was inherited is then subtracted out and goes back to the contributor’s share.
The sticky situation is when the inherited property increases in value between the inheritance and divorce. The appreciation could be considered separate or community property depending on how it was treated.
I think it is pretty standard to only name children and not their spouses in wills.
In general the law isn’t friendly to gold diggers who want to take premarital assets in a divorce.
