In California, the court views parties to a marriage or domestic partnership as equal business partners, and the property (e.g. assets, debts, rights, and interests) acquired during the marriage or domestic partnership (with several notable exceptions) as equally divided in the divorce.
People often ask “but why is divorce so complicated when the court divides everything 50/50?” The answer is property characterization and valuation, which exclusive of reimbursement claims and breaches in fiduciary duties, can alone make division of the assets complicated and litigation protracted.
Depending on the complexity of the legal issues or the asset itself, we at Santucci Family Law work closely with expert CPAs (forensic accountants), business appraisers and real estate appraisers, estate planners, financial planners, and other professionals to assess the community and separate property estate and do the fact-finding necessary to structure optimal outcomes, whether that be in front of judges, mediators or opposing parties.