Marriage of Bustamante CA2/5

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. The Marriage

Rebeca Bustamante (wife) and Calendario Bustamante (husband) married in February 1992 and had two children. Although the marriage began to deteriorate in 2012, they did not separate until January 2018.

II. The Family Home

In 2006, husband and wife purchased a family home in Carson, California (the home). In 2015, husband filed for bankruptcy. To evade his creditors and avoid foreclosure on the home, husband quitclaimed

2 title to the home to wife, as her separate property, for no consideration.1 Husband later testified that he continued to make payments on the home’s outstanding mortgage, although husband was inconsistent in stating the amount of those payments—at various times testifying that he made payments totaling $57,000, $62,000, $72,000, or $230,000. At no point did husband ever provide documentation to substantiate his claimed payments. The home was sold in March 2023, and the net proceeds of $218,000 were deposited into husband’s counsel’s trust account.

III. Dissolution Trial and Entry of Judgment

In August 2018, wife filed for marital dissolution. The matter proceeded to a bench trial over the course of…