Did you notice that money has disappeared from your accounts? Is your spouse claiming they bought something with their separate money, but you think they actually bought it with your community money? Did you buy something with separate money, but your spouse is now trying to claim that it’s community property? Are you afraid that because money has been comingled, you have lost your ability to assert your property rights? Did you buy a home with a down payment of monies you had before your marriage? Did you buy a home with a down payment that came from a prior home sale that you owned before marriage?
You need asset tracing to establish and fight for your property rights! First and foremost, don’t be afraid of assets being comingled – California family law has made clear that mixed assets can still be separated out so that everyone’s property rights can be asserted. The way to do this is called a “tracing”; this same “tracing” analysis is also the analysis you need performed if you’re trying to claim that part of a community asset is separate because it can be traced back to something you either (1) owned before marriage, or (2) was gifted/inherited to you.
Even if your separate money was put into an asset, the asset sold, the money was used to buy another asset, and the new asset sold, (etc etc etc), your tracing rights are still there and protected.
The same analysis can also happen in reverse, trying to establish an interest in a piece of property that your spouse is claiming is their separate property. A tracing can be very helpful in establishing your rights in their separate property as well.
These analyses can happen with homes, businesses, cars, bank accounts, investments, and many other assets.
If the above is something you need help with, step one of your case begins with a call to Desai Camino. Desai Camino has helped many clients already with the following: (1) protect their property rights through an asset tracing (even with monies comingled), (2) establish property rights in the spouse’s estate through tracing, and (3) defend against the other spouse’s attempt to use tracing to increase their share of income. Desai Camino is familiar with the various California Family Codes and the Appellate and Supreme Court cases that allow for such a tracing. Don’t fall for the lie that comingled assets means that your rights are lost – defend your rights and carve out your fair and equitable share of the estate with a proper tracing analysis.