Legal Question in Family Law in California

Technically Yes, but she might argue that your labor in maintaining the home is Community Property, entitling her to her half of the CP value of your labor. This is a small issue, generally not worth litigating.

Mr. Tuan is mistaken. Whether labor or money, the costs of maintenance put into separate property during the marriage do not create any community interest in the property. What can and will create a community interest in the property is if any community funds are used to improve the property. A simple if imperfect way to understand the difference is to pretend it was an investment property and ask if the expense would be one that would be deductible in full in the current tax year, or one that would have to be depreciated over time. So if the sewer line fails and you repair it, no contribution. If you repipe the house for better water pressure with community funds, then the community has an interest.

Also keep in mind major work and effort in improving the property, refinances of the property using community resources and any other significant contributions of community to the property may transmute some or all of the property into a community interest.