Opinion ID: 1360707
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Classification of Parcels as Community Property

Text: (1a) Husband claims a right of reimbursement under section 4800.2, which applies in the division of community property. (2) Since the two parcels in question were conveyed by husband in 1976 to himself and his wife as joint tenants, we first examine the basis for treating them as community property. The operative principles applicable to the residence and to the unimproved parcel differ.
Until modified by statute in 1965, there was a rebuttable presumption that the ownership interest in property was as stated in the title to it. [Citations.] Thus a residence purchased with community funds, but held by a husband and wife as joint tenants, was presumed to be separate property in which each spouse had a half interest. [Citation.] The presumption arising from the form of title could be overcome by evidence of an agreement or understanding between the parties that the interests were to be otherwise. [Citations.] ( In re Marriage of Lucas, supra, 27 Cal.3d 808, 813 (hereafter Lucas ).) The presumption arising from the form of title created difficulties upon divorce or separation when a court saw fit to award a house held in joint tenancy to one spouse for use as a family residence. ( Lucas, supra, 27 Cal.3d at pp. 813-814.) Legislation intended to overcome those difficulties was added to former Civil Code section 164 in 1965 (Stats. 1965, ch. 1710, § 1, pp. 3843-3844), and its substance was moved in 1969 to former Civil Code section 5110 (hereafter section 5110) as part of the Family Law Act. (Stats. 1969, ch. 1608, § 8, p. 3339; see In re Marriage of Hilke, supra, 4 Cal.4th 215, 219; Lucas, supra, 27 Cal.3d at p. 814.) Section 5110 provided in pertinent part: [W]hen a single family residence of a husband and wife is acquired by them during marriage as joint tenants, for the purpose of the division of such property upon dissolution of marriage or legal separation only, the presumption is that such single family residence is the community property of said husband and wife. (Stats. 1969, ch. 1608, § 8, p. 3339.) The substance of section 5110's provision was again moved, in 1983, to the then new section 4800.1, where it was enlarged in two respects. First, the presumption that joint tenancy property acquired during marriage is community property was extended to all kinds of property, not just single-family residences. Second, the presumption could be rebutted only by a statement in the joint tenancy deed or a written agreement of the parties. [6] The 1983 statute purported to make section 4800.1 applicable in all cases to the extent proceedings as to the division of the property are not yet final on January 1, 1984. (Stats. 1983, ch. 342, § 4, p. 1539.) The retroactive effect of section 4800.1 was limited, however, by this court's holding in In re Marriage of Buol, supra, 39 Cal.3d 751 (hereafter Buol ), where judgment dividing the community property had been entered but was not yet final on January 1, 1984. Although title to the family home had been taken during the marriage in joint tenancy, the trial court, pursuant to the holding of Lucas, supra, 27 Cal.3d 808, had awarded the home to the wife as her separate property in accordance with the parties' oral agreement. Husband claimed a community interest in the home on the ground that under section 4800.1, enacted while the appeal was pending, the presumption that the property acquired in joint tenancy is community property could be overcome only by proof of a written instrument. This court in Buol unanimously rejected the claim, holding that such retroactive application of section 4800.1 would deprive the wife of a vested property right without due process of law. The following year, in 1986, the Legislature amended section 4800.1 to provide for its application to all proceedings that (unlike the proceeding in Buol ) are commenced after January 1, 1984, except for property settlements executed, or judgments entered, before January 1, 1987. (See post, fn. 8.) In the present case, the trial court found there was no agreement, oral or written, that either of the parcels in dispute was husband's separate property. Accordingly, application of either section 5110's presumption for single-family homes (explained in Lucas ), or the broader presumption of section 4800.1, requires a finding that the residence is community property. Husband does not contend otherwise.
When husband conveyed the unimproved parcel to himself and wife as joint tenants in 1976, the only statutory provision for treating joint tenancy property as community property for purposes of division upon marital dissolution was section 5110, which applied only to a single family residence. No such presumption was applicable at that time to unimproved land. The presumption of section 4800.1, however, enacted seven years later in 1983, applies to all joint tenancy property, including unimproved land. (See ante, fn. 6.) In Buol, supra, 39 Cal.3d 751, we held that the provision of section 4800.1 requiring a writing to rebut the presumption that property acquired in joint tenancy is community property could not constitutionally be applied to deprive Mrs. Buol of her vested property interest without due process of law. Here, however, Buol does not preclude retroactive application of section 4800.1's presumption that the unimproved parcel conveyed by husband to himself and wife in joint tenancy is community property, because husband held no vested property right, as a joint tenant of the parcel, that he would not also have held as owner of a community property interest while both spouses were still alive. (See In re Marriage of Hilke, supra, 4 Cal.4th at p. 222 [joint tenant's survivorship interest, contingent upon surviving other joint tenant, not a vested right].) We conclude that, in accordance with section 4800.1, the trial court properly treated the unimproved lot as community property.