Division of Property

Division of Property in a California Divorce

The divorce court must decide how a couple's property will be divided during their divorce. This is done by labeling the property as either community or separate. Anything acquired through time, effort or skill of one party during the marriage is community. Community property is divided equally between the spouses. Anything that is not acquired through time, effort or skill during the marriage is not community property. This would include money by one spouse before the marriage, money earned by one spouse after the couple separated, any gifts to only one spouse during the marriage, and inheritance received by either spouse during the marriage, and any personal injury money received whether or not it was received during the marriage. A common misconception is that the court will divide property according to which spouse the name of the property is held in. This is not true although oftentimes a couple will agree to this arrangement to protect his or her credit rating.

California is a community property state. Everything owned and everything owed during the marriage is community if the asset was acquired through time, effort or skill and if the debt was incurred during the marriage. It does not matter who earned the asset, nor who incurred the debt. This is still true even only one person works or only one person benefitted from the debt. All community assets and all debts are divided equally. Finally, spouses often worry about debts the other party is accumulating after they separate. Those debts would be a separate obligation, and so long as the debt has not been incurred in both parties' names, they are of no consequence. If the debts were incurred in both parties' names, they are still a separate obligation, but the creditor will usually not honor this distinction because both parties would have guaranteed payment of the debt regardless of their marital status. In this instance, both parties' credit could be damaged if the party who incurred the debt does not pay.

If you have any questions about how property is divided in California, or about any other family law or divorce issue, please do not hesitate to contact our office to set up a free consultation with one of our Temecula attorneys.