Opinion ID: 1827692
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Presumption of Community

Text: Louisiana Civil Code Article 2340 provides: Things in the possession of a spouse during the existence of a regime of community of acquets and gains are presumed to be community, but either spouse may prove that they are separate property. La. Civ.Code art. 2340 (2003). Enacted by 1979 La. Acts 709, [7] article 2340 broadened the reach of the community presumption previously contained in La. Civ.Code article 2405 [8] to apply to all property possessed by either spouse during the community regime. See Matrimonial Regimes  The Work of the Louisiana Legislature for the 1978 Regular Session: Private Law, 39 La. L.Rev. 129, 141 (1978-1979). [9] Obviously favoring the community, this article strengthens the regime through its broader language. Presently, the presumption applies to all property possessed by either spouse during the community regimeregardless of the time of acquisition. Matrimonial Regimes, supra, at 142. This includes even separate property acquired before the establishment of the regime, and if the character of any property is contested, the spouse claiming separate ownership of the property will have the burden of proving its separate character. Id. at 142. Clearly, the revised community presumption has the potential for unfairness, especially in situations where prior to entering the community regime one spouse acquires property either through donations or independent purchases. Under the new regime, that property is presumed community, and the donee or purchaser spouse has to prove the separate nature of the property he or she brought into the community. La. Civ.Code article 2340 subjects property, which is clearly separate property at the time of its acquisition and prior to marriage, to a community classification potentially effecting a legal change in the nature of the property upon marriage. Moreover, as evident in this case, the legal presumption creates the possibility and the potentiality that a spouse will be called upon to establish the source or origin of property that may have been acquired years before the marriage and potentially decades before the termination of the community regime. Because this expanded community presumption does have this potential for unfairness, the presumption was made clearly rebuttable. Matrimonial Regimes, supra, at 142.