Legal Question in Family Law in California

Unfortunately, your wife is technically correct. The dissolved account is an asset, as it was accrued during marriage. However, you state that the money was used up in its entirety. It should be a relatively simple matter for you to prove that the money was all spent during marriage (therefore presumptively for the benefit of the community/family), meaning that while it is an asset, it no longer has any value and there is nothing left to divide. So while she has the enjoyment of being correct, it means very little in your divorce so long as you prove (or even better, she admits) that the money was used up during the marriage (versus after separation).

Turning to the latter question, California views animals as nothing more than property, despite how we feel about them. Because they are so often like children to us, or at the very least, more than just "property," you may wish to agree to view them as children. The Court will not do so on its own, but the Court will allow you to make custody and visitation orders if that's what you so desire. On a practical level, you WILL want to discuss who is responsible for vet bills, food, licensing, etc. Often times this is overlooked, and then someone is stuck with a $2000 vet bill and all of a sudden no one wants the pet.

Without knowing all the facts and details I can't tell you the outcome of this issue, but it is possible for your wife to ask the court to attribute the value of the account to you in the alloction of assets on the theory that what you did was a breach of your fiduciary duty to her (which it sounds like it was). You are within the limitations period for breach of fiduciary duty in a civil court. So the family law judge could conclude that the remedy is to treat that money as already allocated to you in the divorce, just ahead of time.

As for the dogs, it depends on whether or not they have any market value. If so, such as if they are pure bred breeding animals, then they are assets. If not, they still have to be allocated but they would not show up in the financial division.