Category: Property Division (Community & Separate)

What is Community Property in Divorce, how assets and debts are divided is subject to a number of laws. Assets being what you own and debts what you owe. Since laws are the same for assets and debts, I’ll refer to both collectively as property. Separate property and Community property: How property is divided depends […]

Dividing the Property in a California Divorce: There are common properties to divide in a divorce like the family home, retirement plans, employee stock plans, household items, and debts. You can divide these using the traditional divisions discussed, or use more creative strategies like holding the property jointly after divorce or constructing a payment plan […]

Figuring out the Character of Property: Separate and community property in a CA Divorce can be hard to identify. When you are married, it’s common to share bank accounts, use gifts or inheritance to pay off credit cards or a loan, or use the savings you had before marriage to help pay expenses while married.  […]

Dividing Household , Sentimental , Antiques: Dividing Household items, like furniture, kitchen appliances and cookware, backyard furniture, and tools, also need to be divided. The court values these items at resale value, not replacement value.   Flip a coin: Couples can easily sit down and divide the items. If you have a hard time dividing the […]

With Employee Stock Plan Accounts in a California Divorce, the company offers the employee company stock, like stock options or restricted stock units, as part of the employee’s compensation. The company offers these benefits to attract talent and encourage employees to invest in their company’s growth. If their company does well, they do too.  Vesting: […]

Dividing Debts in a California Divorce: While you work through your property to divide, remember to also work through your debts. Debts are assigned in the same way as property. If incurred during marriage, the debt is a community obligation, unless it was incurred in a frivolous or fraudulent manner. If the debt is community, […]

Retirement Accounts Plans: Many couples have community retirement accounts. Any contributions made during marriage, whether 401(K)s, 403(B)s, IRA, Keoghs, military retirement benefits, or pensions, are community and each spouse is entitled to one-half. This includes any years of service earned as part of a pension plan during the marriage, or contributions your employer made on […]