Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Un-vested Stock Options

There are several approaches to treatment. The most common is

to compare the amount of time from the grant to the vesting for each

vesting. The portion during the marriage and before separation (the date

the spouses stopped living together with no intent to return to live

together as husband and wife) is usually considered community property, and

the remainder the separate property of the employed spouse. However, in

some circumstances it is possible to argue that each succeeding grant was

meant only as a reward for employment the preceding month, so that all vestings

after separation should be treated as separate property.