Kaplan Pgs 141-147 Characterization Flashcards
When can the court dispense with the consent requirement of the other spouse to sell, convey, encumber, or lease real property belongs to the community?
Upon the motion of one spouse if the proposed transaction is in the interest of the community and consent is being arbitrarily withheld, or can’t be gotten because of physical or mental incapacity or a prolonged absence
If one spouse executed a deed, mortgage, contract, or lease on real property that belongs to the community, what happens if it happens without the consent of the other spouse?
As long as the purchaser acted in good faith without knowledge of the marriage relation, it is presumptively valid
How are employment fringe benefits characterized?
As compensation for services, so those are considered to be earnings
If wages are not given until the marriage is over, but they are for labour that happened during the marriage, how are they classified?
CP
How would artistic works or copyrights that were created during the marriage be treated at divorce?
Community property
How do you treat stock options that were acquired somewhat as community property and somewhat as separate property?
Use the time rule: this gives each spouse their pro rata share.
Take the difference in years between the date that the stock options were gotten and the date of separation divided by the number of years between the date the stock options were gotten and the date that they can actually be exercised.
This is often used if the employer granted the stock as an incentive
If an employer gives his employee stock options intending to reward him for past services, what is the formula that is used?
Take the number of years of employment during the marriage and divide by the number of years from the start of employment to when the options are exercisable
If a life insurance policy was paid for with both community and separate property, how is it apportioned?
According to the ratio of the premiums that were paid from each estate
How are military insurance policies treated?
As the separate property of the veteran, regardless of the source of the payments
If an employee spouse has a right to choose among alternative retirement plans, and he does so in a way that impairs the non-employee’s interest in the benefits, what happens?
The non-employee spouse must be compensated or can enjoin the employee spouse from selecting a plan that is less favourable
Because Social Security benefits are considered to be federal benefits that are controlled by federal law, what does that mean?
That they are not community property, so the California courts cannot divide them
What is a debt?
Any obligation of either spouse that is based in tort, contract, or otherwise
A debt is incurred when?
At the time the contract is made, the tort occurs, or the obligation arises
A debt that is incurred by one spouse before the marriage is classified as what after the marriage?
His separate debt
