California is a community property state. It is one of only nine other community property states in America. Under community property law, husbands and wives are deemed co-owners of property much like a partnership.



In California all the properties owned by a married couple fits into three categories. It is either (1) community property; (2) separate property; or (3) quasi-community property.

Whether a piece of property is community, separate, or quasi-community property controls how it will be divided upon dissolution of marriage. 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.

In fact under the law, both spouses own the property acquired from the beginning of the marriage to the date of separation. How do they own it? Each owns a one half interest.

Separate property are those things that either spouse had before marriage, after separation, or received during the marriage either by gift or inheritance. So, let's say that during your marriage you received an inheritance for your rich aunt. That property is yours and is considered separate property.

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.