Property Acquired Before Marriage. The character of property as separate or community is established at the point of acquisition. Property acquired by the husband before marriage is his separate property. Once established, separate property retains its separate character unless changed by deed, agreement of the parties, operation of law, or some other direct and positive evidence to the contrary. The burden is on the spouse asserting that separate property has transferred to the community to prove the transfer by clear and convincing evidence, usually a writing evidencing mutual intent.
Separate property retains that character when it is brought to Washington from another state.
Separate property brought to this state by a married man and intermingled with funds accumulated here, with no effort to keep them separate, becomes community property. Commingled funds are thus presumed to be community property. And the burden is on the spouse claiming separate funds to clearly and convincingly trace them to a separate source. However, only when money in a joint account is hopelessly commingled and cannot be separated is it rendered entirely community property. If the sources of the deposits can be traced and identified, the separate identity of the funds is preserved.