Court Opinion

ID: 9727901
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:52:32.779424+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:44.227679
License: Public Domain

KAUS, P. J.
I concur in the result, but since I have lingering doubts about the court’s res judicata rationale, I would simply add my personal opinion that appellant labors under a mistaken view concerning the impact of section 5123 of the Civil Code.
Amazingly enough, the section has never really been interpreted. It is a successor statute to former section 171b, the chief purpose of which was “to prevent liability of the wife’s separate property in cases in which she had to join with the husband in executing an instrument encumbering the community real property(Witkin, Summary of California Law (8th ed. 1974) p. 5170.) Admittedly the section goes further in that it also covers secured transactions in personal property where the wife’s signature is not required. Nevertheless, I do not believe the statute was ever intended to protect wives who, as appellant, guarantee a community obligation secured by a security interest of community property, by a separate instrument. Such a case squarely falls under section 5121 of the Civil Code to the effect that “the separate property of the wife is liable for her own debts contracted before or after her marriage,...”