Legal Question in Family Law in California
My wife and I have been legally separated since 4/09. She kept the car which is fully paid for and has a value of $30k. She has been driving it all this time and won't allow me to use it.
When we settle everything up, we are going to need a value on the car regardless of who ends up getting it. Would the value of the car be determined at the time of the separation or as of today? In other words, the longer she does not allow me to drive it and this drags on, the value keeps going down. If she is going to buy me out of the car should it not be valued at the point of separation?
2 Answers from Attorneys
It could be calculated two ways, either at date of separation, or at date of distribution, but then she would owe the community for the value of using it from separation to distribution.
California family law provides for the property to be valued at the time it is divided, unless the court finds good cause to value the property at an earlier time. Value of cars is typically established by using Kelly Blue Book or another recognized evaluation procedure.
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