Williams v. Williams

Plaintiff wife and defendant husband were married May 8, 1955. Almost 13 years later the marriage had deteriorated to the point where divorce was imminent. The husband thereupon withdrew $39,251.50 from a savings and loan association account and received $73,237.76 from the dissolution of a stock account at the office of a stock broker. The failure of the trial court to make any findings with respect to this total sum of $110,489.26 is the principal point giving rise to this appeal.

On April 19,1968, the wife brought a divorce action against the husband, but it was shortly thereafter dismissed. The present action for divorce was *564 brought by the wife May 27, 1968. The husband cross-complained for a divorce and upon trial the court granted a divorce to each party. The wife was awarded alimony in the sum of $1.00 per year. No issue of child support was involved. One parcel of real property was found to be the husband’s separate property. Five other parcels of real property were found to be community property and the wife was awarded an undivided one-half interest in each parcel. Disposition of life insurance policies, automobiles, clothing and other relatively…

I concur in the result reached in the majority opinion. I disagree, however, with the reasoning of that portion of the opinion which discusses the issue of the wife’s right to any part of the $110,489.26 not shown to have been expended for community purposes. In my view, the question is one of burden of proof and of producing evidence. In a dispute over disposition of property in a divorce action, the wife has the burden of proof of establishing the existence of community property, and except as *569 she may be aided by presumptions must produce evidence which carries that burden. (Estate of Nelson, 104 Cal.App. 613 [ 286 P. 439 ]; See v. See, 64 Cal.2d 778 [ 51 Cal.Rptr. 888 , 415 P.2d 776 ].)

Where, as here, the wife has concededly established the existence of community assets, has established that certain of those assets are missing, and has presented evidence from which it may be inferred that the husband wrongfully disposed of them, she has, in my opinion, met her burden of proof. The issue then shifts to the validity of dispositions of community property by the husband. On that issue, whether dispositions of community property by the husband are proper on the one hand or…

Plaintiff wife and defendant husband were married May 8, 1955. Almost 13 years later the marriage had deteriorated to the point where divorce was imminent. The husband thereupon withdrew $39,251.50 from a savings and loan association account and received $73,237.76 from the dissolution of a stock account at the office of a stock broker. The failure of the trial court to make any findings with respect to this total sum of $110,489.26 is the principal point giving rise to this appeal.

On April 19, 1968, the wife brought a divorce action against the husband, but it was shortly thereafter dismissed. The present action for divorce was brought by the wife May 27, 1968. The husband cross-complained for a divorce and upon trial the court granted a divorce to each party. The wife was awarded alimony in the sum of $1.00 per year. No issue of child support was involved. One parcel of real property was found to be the husband's separate property. Five other parcels of real property were found to be community property and the wife was awarded an undivided one-half interest in each parcel. Disposition of life insurance policies, automobiles, clothing and other…