Legal Question in Family Law in California

In California the answer is yes.

I'm not so sure I agree with Ms. Kock. California tries to divide out of state property, terming it quasi-community property. Quasi-community property is property acquired by the spouses residing outside of California that would be classified as community property if the parties were residing here. But California runs into problems with of jurisdiction, full faith and credit, and choice of law when dealing with property in other states. Property outside of the United States might be even more removed from that analysis.

Mr. Roach is quite wrong in saying that whether property is out of state or in state has anything to do with whether it is quasi-community property or anything else. The real problem is jurisdiction. Assuming both spouses are in California, then California will have jurisdiction over the people, but not the property itself. So it cannot make orders or judgments affecting the property directly. It can only order the people to do things with the property. So California will order a division of ALL marital property, each thing according to the property and ownership laws of where it is located, subject to California law regarding what was done with it while living in California (such as mortgage payment credits for payments made while living in California). In the end, however, it only has the power of contempt of court to force either party to convey or give up property not located in California.