Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Property rights in the case of divorce

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NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

The facts that you have provided are not clear

enough and/or complete enough to provide a

definitive answer to you inquiry; however, I would

say that the house probably is mostly his separate property except for the (probably small)increase in equity resulting from paydown of the mortgage principle with community propery income. A lawyer or account familiar with community property law could probably give you an estimate of the breakdown.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

Re: Property rights in the case of divorce

I can't tell exactly, but it sounds like the house was purchased and built prior to the marriage. Assuming that is true, and that you did not put money into it, the house is his separate property. The community may have some interest if c/p funds were used to pay down the principle on the mortgage. That would be fairly minimal, especially on a short term early in the loan history. It is called the Moore/Marsden formula.