Legal Question in Family Law in California

It would appear that the home is your separate property, however, she may have a community interest in that separate property. If so, it is not likely to be much.

BARRY BESSER

www.besserlaw.com

If you made the payments out of income earned during the marriage, the community acquired some interest in the property. If they list it as separate property they would be waiving the community's reimbursement claim for the community income that went into the principal pay-down during the marriage. It would be a modest amount in only two years, but worth their time to list and deal with in the property distribution.

You need to pay close attention to what Mr. McCormick says. I realize that you state that you made the payments yourself, but if you made those payments from earnings during marriage, then the community acquired a pro tanto interest in the real property to the exent that those payments reduced any debt secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on the property.

To avoid that, you would be required to show that you could trace all of those payments from a separate property source, such as an inheritance, or rents on the separate property. The claim alone that you made the payments would not suffice.