California is a community property state.  In general, that means that any assets or debts acquired during the marriage will be divided evenly between divorcing parties.  Nonetheless, determining marital versus separate property, assessing the value of property, and discovering all of the family assets can be complex.

Not all property is considered part of the marital estate. Property acquired before the marriage, or during the marriage by gift or inheritance, and any income derived from that property is not considered community property.  In a divorce, this “separate property” is awarded to the party to whom it originally was given.  Additionally, income from that property will also be awarded to the party who owned it originally. 

Assuming it was acquired during the marriage, property that is typically part of the marital estate includes things such as the family home, a family business, retirement accounts, 401ks and pension plans, IRAs, vacation property and investment property.   

Characterization of property as either separate or community and valuation of property regardless of its characterization are the main questions addressed in the property division phase of a dissolution.  Your lawyer's ability to characterize a valuable asset as community or separate property will have a significant effect on how the marital estate is divided. Fuller Jenkins will provide you with reliable guidance as to how a particular item should or will be characterized so as to best suit the goals in your particular case.

Sometimes the value of particular assets needs to be determined through appraisal, comparable sales or application of the right accounting method. We routinely engage property evaluators, businesses evaluators, accountants and forensic accountants to provide a fair valuation of the marital estate and discover any hidden assets.

In complicated divorces, our in-house financial consultant will assist in tracing contributions of separate property toward the payment of community debts or liabilities, formulate family business valuation strategy, distinguish between interest income and appreciation in value of assets, and establish strategy for establishing the separate property character of income from gifts, inheritance and personal injury damages. 

In addition to our financial consultant, our office has a business law division separate and distinct from our family law division. Our ability to utilize the insights of our business law group allows us to protect our clients' businesses and business interests during any divorce dispute or litigation.