California is a community state. In fact it’s one of only nine community property states. Community property law stands for the proposition that a husband and wife will be considered co-owners of property similar to a partnership entity.

In the state of California property owned by a couple is deemed at divorce to fit into one of three categories. A court will consider either community property, separate property, or quasi-community property.

Whether a piece of property is community, separate, or quasi-community property will control the division of property upon divorce. Under California law community property is defined as all property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired by married persons during the marriage while domiciled in the state.

Property that is acquired during marriage that is from the beginning of the marriage until the date of separation is owned by both spouses. How? Each spouse owns a distinct one half interest in the property.

Separate property is property that either spouse owns before the marriage, after separation, or property that was received during the marriage either by inheritance or gift. For example, let’s say that you received a large sum of money as inheritance from your rich uncle. The money is yours and will be considered separate property at divorce.

Income earned during the marriage will be deemed to community property unless it originates from separate property. This means that your income will be considered a property even if it’s held in separate accounts.

Now for quasi-community property, here it gets a little stickier. It is defined under the law as: all real or personal property, wherever situated, acquired before or after the operative date of this code in any of the following ways: (a) By either spouse while domiciled elsewhere which would have been community property if the spouse who acquired the property had been domiciled in this state at the time of its acquisition. (b) In exchange for real or personal property, wherever situated, which would have been community property if the spouse who acquired the property so exchanged had been domiciled in this state at the time of its acquisition.

quasi-community property refers to that property acquired by a couple when they lived in an equitable distribution state before moving to California. In California, however, was a community property is treated just like community property.

I hate to say this but there’s an even trickier part: sometimes separate property can be calm community property during the normal course of marriage. This does happen and often results in a nasty surprise. If you are even thinking about divorce please contact me to discuss these issues and avoid any nasty surprises. Click on the links below and my resource box, visit my website, and schedule a free consultation.