Category Archives: Property Division
Your 401(k) Has a Co-Owner You Never Approved: Dividing Retirement Accounts in a California Divorce
Most people think of their retirement account as a solo project. Decades of contributions, employer matches, and careful allocation choices, all quietly compounding in your name alone. Then a divorce arrives, and suddenly a court is treating that account as if it had two names on it the whole time. In California, that is… Read More »
What Happens to the Family Home in a California Divorce?
The family home tends to hold more than square footage. It holds routines, memories, and for many couples, the single largest number on the balance sheet. So when divorce enters the picture, the question of who keeps the house, or whether anyone keeps it at all, is rarely simple. California’s Community Property Starting Point… Read More »
Commingled Accounts: Where “Yours, Mine, and Ours” Gets Complicated
Every California divorce runs into the same basic sorting exercise: figure out what belongs to the marriage and what belonged to one spouse alone before the marriage started. In theory, this is simple. Property acquired before marriage, or received individually as a gift or inheritance, stays separate. Everything else acquired during marriage is community… Read More »
When Divorce and the Cap Table Collide: Dividing a Business You Both Built
Splitting a marriage is complicated enough. Splitting a business that both spouses helped build, and both spouses may still need to run, is a different level of difficulty. Unlike a house or a retirement account, a family business rarely has a clean price tag, and shutting it down or selling it off is often… Read More »
How Community Property Shapes Your California Divorce
“Community property” is one of those terms you hear almost immediately when divorcing in California. California is one of only a handful of community property states, and the rules here can surprise people who assume “fair” means “equal” in every sense. So, what actually happens to the house, the retirement account, and that car… Read More »
Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce: Avoiding Costly Mistakes
Retirement accounts may be in one spouse’s name, but in California, community property rules apply not only to physical assets such as cars and homes, but to 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement accounts as well. This means that divorcing couples should expect that these assets will be divided between the couple, and this should… Read More »
Handling an Upside-down Mortgage in Divorce
It’s a tale as old as time: a couple weds, works hard, saves, buys their dream home, but as life takes unexpected turns, the marriage may come to an end. Divorce is never easy, but for many couples, there is an added complication when their property is worth less than what is owed on… Read More »
Dividing Rental Income in Divorce
Investment rental properties are subject to the same community property division rules as any other asset. In California, this means that the asset is to be equally divided between the spouses, unless the rental property falls under “separate property” rules. (This may be the case if, for instance, the property was purchased by one… Read More »
Community Property in California
California recognizes a “community property” model, meaning that property and debt acquired during the course of the marriage are considered to belong to both spouses and should be divided equally. However, there are important exceptions. Separate property: The courts recognize that an asset or debt acquired before the marriage, as well as gifts or… Read More »
Essential Questions to Consider in a High Asset Divorce
Divorce is devastating for a great number of reasons. One material, but very real part, is the devastation of dividing assets after years, maybe even decades, of hard work as a couple to build what you have. If you have accumulated wealth during the course of your marriage, there are several things you should… Read More »