Except upon the written agreement of the parties, or on oral stipulation of the parties in open court, or as otherwise provided in this division, in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties, the court shall, either in its judgment of dissolution of the marriage, in its judgment of legal separation of the parties, or at a later time if it expressly reserves jurisdiction to make such a property division, divide the community estate of the parties equally.
Part 2GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section § 2550
This law says that when a couple is getting divorced or legally separating in California, the court usually has to divide their shared property equally unless the couple has a written agreement or makes a deal in court to do it differently. The court can also decide about the property later if it specifically keeps the power to do so.
community estate equal division dissolution of marriage legal separation property division written agreement oral stipulation jurisdiction open court marital property division of assets spousal agreements
Section § 2551
This law section explains that when a couple is dividing their assets, the court must decide which debts belong to both partners together or just one partner individually. The court then assigns responsibility for these debts based on specific rules.
For the purposes of division and in confirming or assigning the liabilities of the parties for which the community estate is liable, the court shall characterize liabilities as separate or community and confirm or assign them to the parties in accordance with Part 6 (commencing with Section 2620).
division of debts community estate liabilities characterize liabilities assign debts confirm liabilities separate liabilities community liabilities debt responsibility court assignment couple's debts liability
Section § 2552
In a divorce or legal separation, the court usually figures out how much everything is worth as close to the trial date as possible. However, if one spouse provides a good reason and gives 30 days' notice to the other, the court could use a different date after the couple separated but before the trial to determine the value of their property and debts to make sure things are divided fairly.
(a)CA Family Law Code § 2552(a) For the purpose of division of the community estate upon dissolution of marriage or legal separation of the parties, except as provided in subdivision (b), the court shall value the assets and liabilities as near as practicable to the time of trial.
(b)CA Family Law Code § 2552(b) Upon 30 days’ notice by the moving party to the other party, the court for good cause shown may value all or any portion of the assets and liabilities at a date after separation and before trial to accomplish an equal division of the community estate of the parties in an equitable manner.
community estate dissolution of marriage legal separation valuation of assets liabilities division trial date valuation good cause notice requirement equitable division post-separation valuation
Section § 2553
This law gives the court the power to issue any orders it believes are needed to fulfill the goals of this division.
The court may make any orders the court considers necessary to carry out the purposes of this division.
court orders carry out purposes division goals judicial authority necessary orders legal enforcement court discretion fulfillment of division judicial power enforcement orders necessary actions court's discretion division purposes authority to act judicial mandate
Section § 2554
If a couple can't agree on how to split their shared property during a separation, and the property's value is $50,000 or less, the court can send the issue to arbitration. Arbitration is like a private judge who makes the decision. The court's decision about the property's value can't be challenged or appealed. The court can choose to do this arbitration anytime it thinks the couple can't work things out on their own.
(a)CA Family Law Code § 2554(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, in any case in which the parties do not agree in writing to a voluntary division of the community estate of the parties, the issue of the character, the value, and the division of the community estate may be submitted by the court to arbitration for resolution pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1141.10) of Title 3 of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if the total value of the community and quasi-community property in controversy in the opinion of the court does not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). The decision of the court regarding the value of the community and quasi-community property for purposes of this section is not appealable.
(b)CA Family Law Code § 2554(b) The court may submit the matter to arbitration at any time it believes the parties are unable to agree upon a division of the property.
arbitration community property quasi-community property property division marital estate property value dispute resolution court decision voluntary division property controversy non-appealable community estate inability to agree shared property court intervention
Section § 2555
This law says that decisions about how shared property is divided during a divorce can be reviewed and changed if someone appeals the decision. It applies even to decisions the court initially had the freedom to make based on its own judgment.
The disposition of the community estate, as provided in this division, is subject to revision on appeal in all particulars, including those which are stated to be in the discretion of the court.
community estate property division divorce appeal revision on appeal discretion of the court shared property court judgment marriage dissolution community property estate disposition property appeal family court decisions appeals process spousal property court discretion revision
Section § 2556
If you're going through divorce, annulment, or legal separation, this law says that the court can still deal with any shared assets or debts that didn't get sorted out in the original judgment. You can ask the court to make a decision on these leftover items. The court will usually split them evenly unless there's a good reason not to.
In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, for nullity of marriage, or for legal separation of the parties, the court has continuing jurisdiction to award community estate assets or community estate liabilities to the parties that have not been previously adjudicated by a judgment in the proceeding. A party may file a postjudgment motion or order to show cause in the proceeding in order to obtain adjudication of any community estate asset or liability omitted or not adjudicated by the judgment. In these cases, the court shall equally divide the omitted or unadjudicated community estate asset or liability, unless the court finds upon good cause shown that the interests of justice require an unequal division of the asset or liability.
dissolution of marriage nullity of marriage legal separation community estate assets community estate liabilities continuing jurisdiction postjudgment motion order to show cause unequal division good cause interests of justice omitted assets unadjudicated liabilities
