Earnings from separate property during marriage

• It is conceivable that separate property may continue to increase during marriage. Those earnings remain separate property unless commingling of separate property earning and community property earning makes it impossible to prove the money came from the separate property. For example, a home owned by one spouse prior to the marriage that is rented out during the marriage is earning money. The rents from the property remain separate property. However, if the spouse who owns the rental property deposits the rents into a joint bank account, it may be very difficult to trace the money back to the rental house.
  
  

Gifts and inheritances during marriage

• Gifts or inheritances made to one spouse during the marriage are considered separate property. Yet, again, commingling of the separate property with community property could be treated as a "transmutation" wherein the separate property is treated as community property at the time of divorce.
  
  

Gifts to each other

• When spouses give gifts to each other, they can specify whether they intended the property to be separate or community by the way in which they title the gift. For example, gifting a car and titling it in only one spouse's name could lead to a presumption that the car is separate property.
  
  

Retirement and other accounts

• Even property that may not be in the possession of a spouse at the time of the divorce may be treated as community property. For example, retirement accounts earned during the marriage that may not be collected until long after are treated as community property. Other types of accounts that may be affected in such a way are stock options, disability benefits and life insurance.
  
  

Disclaimer

• Community property is an extremely complex area of family law. Individuals facing a divorce in California should consult a family law attorney.