Community Property Rights by James P. Reape Equal ownership of community property assets has never been dependent upon a determination of labor or talent. Men and women are considered equal partners in a marriage in California. Each shares marital property equally regardless of whether their assets were earned by one or the other. For example, if the wife is a highly paid accountant and the husband is a school teacher, the differential in actual earnings is irrelevant to the ownership rights of each.
Marriage extends to all of the property earned by either partner during the marriage.
She has a continuing half ownership of the marital earnings from the beginning of the marriage and from the time of acquisition of property attained during the marriage. Both marital partners are an equal agent of the partnership, binding it if acting within the scope of his or her authority and if acting for the joint benefit of the family. The California community property system adds to joint ownership the right of equal management and control. In dissolution of a marriage, the court is empowered to allocate assets of comparable value to the former husband and wife to make the overall division of the gross marital estate substantially equal. It need not divide each asset.