Community Property Flashcards
Marital Economic Community/General Presumptions
In a CP state, the marital economic community begins upon marriage and ends at divorce, death of a spouse, or a permanent physical separation with an intent not to resume the marital relationship. Property, earnings, or debt acquired during marriage are community property.
Property acquired by either spouse before marriage; by gift or inheritance during marriage; or after death, divorce, or a permanent separation, is separate property. Rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence.
Finally, property acquired by a married couple while living in a non-CP state that would be characterized as CP if the couple had been living in CA at the time of acquisition is called quasi- community property.
Quasi-Marital Property
Quasi-marital property is property acquired by putative spouses during their putative marriage.
Married Woman’s Special Presumption
Before 1/1/75, if a married woman was the title owner to property without her husband or if she was on title with a third party, the property was presumptively her property.
Special Title Presumption
At death, the form of ownership on the title presumptively represents the ownership interests of the spouses. Except: spouse purchasing the asset titles the asset in his name alone—it is self-serving and the assets are considered untitled and asset may be considered SP if source of funds was SP.
Special CP Presumption
At divorce, jointly held property is presumed to be community property.
Married Couples
A valid marriage requires the consent of two parties who have legal capacity to enter into the contract of marriage and formal legal procedures. Common-law marriages are not created in CA, but they will be recognized if they are validly created in other states under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution.
Void: Incest, Bigamy, Not lawfully Contracted
Voidable: Underage, Prior existing marriage, Unsound mind, force, physical incapacity, fraud
Unmarried Cohabitants
Distribution of property acquired during a non-marital relationship is governed by judicial decision applying general contract principles. Express contracts will be enforced unless based on meretricious sexual services.
Putative Spouses
A putative marriage occurs when one or both spouses relies on a good-faith belief based upon objectively reasonable grounds that he is validly married. The spouse to a void or voidable marriage who had a good-faith belief in the validity of the marriage is entitled to status as the putative spouse.
Domestic Partners
Prior to 2000, unmarried same-sex couples could enter into Marvin agreements, but could not register as domestic partners and had no community property rights.
Between 2000 and 2003, same sex couples were permitted to register as domestic partners, but did not gain any community property rights.
Between 2003 and 2005, domestic partners who died intestate with “separate property” were treated as spouses.
After January 1, 2005–domestic partners could be subject to community property law and it applied retroactively to registered domestic partners.
