The courts look at marriages like partnerships in the State of California, so when it comes to divorce, spouses are co-owners.
If you live in California and are contemplating or about to actually file for a divorce, you need to be aware that California is a community property state, one of only nine like it in the United States. Community property means that spouses are regarded as co-owners of property, like being in a partnership.
There are three categories that married spouses may fit into when facing a divorce in California, the first being community property; the second being separate property; and the third being quasi-community property. Why the different categories when a couple is getting divorced?
The category the property happens to fall into controls how it is divided when the divorce is final. For instance, California’s community property law says community property is considered to be “all” property, no matter where it is located, that was acquired by the married couple while they lived in California. If the property is located within California, the California law classifies such property as community property. If the property is located outside the State of California, it is called quasi-community property.
Generally speaking, the couple both own property that they bought between the time they were married and the day they separated. Each of them owns a one-half interest in that property. This is what is referred to as community property, with both people owning it at the same time.
On the other hand, separate property is property that either spouse owned “before” the marriage or after separation. Or, it might also be assets that were received during the marriage as a gift or an inheritance. An example of this might be if a relative gifted an ancestral home to the wife. That home is then hers and is considered to be separate property at divorce time.
On another note relating to separate property: if any money is earned from that property, it is considered separate. However, if income is generated by both spouses and it is not related to the separate property, it is community property and it doesn’t matter if the money is in separate bank accounts.
Things tend to get a bit complicated when it comes to the quasi-community property category. The law looks at that as all property, no matter where it is located, or if it was bought before or after the operative date of the community property code. Wait, it gets worse, as here are the various ways property may be acquired: by either partner while living someplace else, which would have been community property if the person who bought it had been living in California when it was purchased; or if the property was acquired by exchange, then it would have been community property if the person who exchanged it had been living in California when the property was exchanged.
Talk about confusing to say the least. So to simplify things a bit, typically quasi-community property means a property acquired by a couple when they lived in an equitable distribution state prior to living in California. Once they move to California, their quasi-community property is treated like community property.
There’s one other thing that divorcing California couples need to know and that is that there are instances where separate property may become community property during the course of the marriage. To say this would come as a really unpleasant surprise is an understatement.
If you are contemplating filing for a divorce in California, make sure you hire an expert divorce lawyer who will outline the details about community property and guide you through the tangled divorce process.
Renee Cary writes for Irvine divorce attorney, Gerald Maggio of The Maggio Law Firm. To learn more about Irvine divorce lawyer, Gerald Maggio visit Maggiolawfirm.com.
After the initial divorce paperwork has been filed with the court, either spouse may file for an “Order to Show Cause” hearing with the court requesting a hearing to decide temporary orders for child custody, visitation, child support, spousal support and other orders while the divorce is pending. Other orders can involve temporary use of marital property, restraining orders and orders that one party pay the other party’s attorney feed and costs.
The next step after service of the Summons and Petition for Marital Dissolution and the Response thereto is for both parties to complete and exchange their own “Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure.”
Both parties in a California divorce are required to disclose detailed, accurate information to the other about their respective incomes, expenses, property (both marital and separate property) and all debts and obligations. There mutual disclosures are called the parties’ “Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure”. The formal disclosures are signed under penalty of perjury. A Final Declaration of Disclosure can be completed at approximately the time of trial or settlement in the case unless the parties mutually agree in writing to waive such final disclosure.
These Declarations of Disclosure consist of special forms required by the court, and except for proof that the parties served each other with such forms, these forms are otherwise not filed with the court. The 4 forms that generally comprise the Declaration of Disclosure are:
1. Declaration of Disclosure (Form FL-140)
2. Income and Expense Declaration (Form FL-150)
3. Schedule of Assets and Debts (Form FL-142)
4. Declaration of Service of Declaration of Disclosure (Form FL-141)
The purpose of such financial disclosures is to make settlement negotiations easier to proceed because of the generally clear picture of the parties’ financial situation given by such formal disclosure. Moreover, it protects the parties in the event that either spouse failed to disclose all assets.
California law requires that the disclosure documents be completed and served twice, once at the beginning of the divorce (Preliminary) and then again near the end of the case immediately prior to trial or judgment (Final). However, the parties can agree to waive service of the final Declaration of Disclosure, as long as such a waiver is in writing on the appropriate legal paperwork.
Stipulation (Agreement) of the Parties:
When parties are able to work together in reaching agreements for temporary orders or final settlement of their entire marital dissolution case, a “Stipulation & Order” for temporary orders or a “Marital Settlement Agreement” can be drafted by the attorney outlining the terms of such agreement which the parties and their respective counsel will sign and when filed with the court, they become official orders of the court.
Trial:
If the spouses ultimately are unable to reach a more “permanent” agreement on all custody, visitation and related issues, the parties will need to request that a trial date be set to have the judge assigned to the case decide the issues. There are not juries in family law court, so such issues are generally decided by the Judge or a Commissioner of the Family Law Court.
California has a six-month “cooling-off” period prior to entry of a judgment in a marital dissolution case, meaning that a judgment terminating the marriage cannot be entered until at least 6 months after the date the other spouse was served with the petition for marital dissolution has passed. However, nothing happens automatically when the 6 month time period is reached, and the court does not automatically terminate the marriage after 6 months. Entry of a judgment requires either a formal Marital Settlement Agreement be entered into by the parties as part of a judgment package filed with the court, or otherwise by court orders made at trial.
Yes. Until a judgment is entered in your divorce case, you cannot legally remarry. However, in cases where the issues are heavily contested, it it possible to seek a “Bifurcation of Marital Status” wither by agreement or court order whereby the Court separates the issue of marital status from the rest of the case, restores the parties to the status of single persons, and reserves the remaining issues for further determination. Bifurcation of marital status enables the parties to remarry while they continue to negotiate and litigate the remaining issues of their divorce.
A California divorce cannot be ordered by the Court until at least 6 months after the other spouse was served with the initial Summons and Petition, i.e. a “cooling off” period that cannot be shortened or waived. Moreover, nothing will happen after those 6 months in ending your marriage unless you and your spouse enter into a written judgment agreement or otherwise take the divorce to trial. In other words, a judgment can only happen with either an agreed-upon judgment or going to trial. Until that time, neither party can legally remarry.
In situations where the parties have not resolved all issues or one or both parties seek to be divorced in order to remarry, a party can seek a “bifurcation” of marital status, wherein the court terminates your status as a married couple but reserves jurisdiction over all other issues of the marriage until further agreement can be reached or the case goes to trial.
For couples who have been married for less than 5 years, have no children together, will not seek spousal support from each other, have very little property or debts together, and can mutually agree on how to divide their property and debts, a California “summary dissolution” is a simplified alternate to a regular divorce. Such couples can complete and file special forms together with the court and will not need a court hearing to finalize their divorce.
Legal Requirements:
1. The parties have been married for 5 years or less.
2. The parties have no children from their relationship.
3. Neither party owns a home of other real estate property
4. The value of all community property totals less than $25,000.
5. The combined total debt of the parties is $5000 or less.
6. The parties mutually agree to waive spousal support from the other.
In divorces that require determination of the fair market value of marital assets, community businesses, debts, and self-employment incomes for support purposes, “discovery” requests served on one of both spouses may be necessary. Such discovery requests can require responses to general and specific questions, production or documentation of other tangible items, and depositions of the parties or third parties.
Completion of the discovery process is generally necessary before a divorce case can be set for trial and can slow down the divorce process. However, such discovery is necessary to protect the parties’ rights and ensure and fair and reasonable division of the parties’ assets and debts.
Community Property:
California is a “community Property” state, meaning that each spouse owns a one-half interest in all real and personal property and debs acquired during the marriage regardless of whether one of both parties were gainfully employed during the marriage or how the title of the property or debt is held Such assets can include pensions and other retirement plans and investments. Such debts can include credit card bills.
There are exceptions to the rule of community property, such as gifts or inheritances received during the marriage that were not intermixed with community property (like joint bank accounts) during the marriage. Gifts and inheritances are generally considered the separate property of the spouse that received the,. Moreover, student loans are generally considered the separate property debt of the party who incurred them, because they keep the benefit of their education paid for by such loans even after the marriage ends. Separate property is also anything you owned before you got married or the you earned or receive after your date of separation.
In dividing community property, it is the intent of California Law to divide up the property in such as way so that one party takes an asset of one value, the other party takes and other asset or equal value, so that in the the, the value of the divided assets have been equalized between the partied. After all, simply because both parties own one-half of the dining room table does not mean that it makes any sense to grab a chainsaw and cut the table in half!
Under some circumstances where the assets have been equally divided as possible but the division is still one sided, an “Equalization Payment” may need to be made in order to equalize the value of the property divided.
Separate Property:
Separate property is assets and debts acquired prior to the date of the marriage or after the parties have separated as well as inheritances received before or even during the marriage, and gifts to a particular spouse. Separate property can include the rents or profits generated from such separate property. Separate property is not divided y the court as part of the marital property.
Where separate property has been commingled with community property assets, a spouse claiming a separate property interest has the legal burden of tracing the source of such assets, which can be very complicated. In certain situations a forensic accountant may need to be appointed in order to address and resolve complex tracing issues.
