In Re Marriage of Dellaria & Blickman-Dellaria

I. INTRODUCTION

In this marital dissolution action between David M. Dellaria (David) and Elizabeth L. Blickman-Dellaria (now Elizabeth Blickman) (Elizabeth), David has filed this appeal challenging the trial court’s division of the parties’ community property. The trial court found that after the parties had separated, they entered into a valid and enforceable oral agreement to divide the major assets in the marital estate. The court then adjudicated their community property rights in accordance with the parties’ agreement, even though it resulted in an uneven distribution of property. It is noteworthy that the parties’ agreement was never reduced to writing, nor was there an in-court stipulation by the parties to divide their assets in accordance with their oral agreement.

David argues that the trial court erred as a matter of law in making an uneven distribution of the parties’ community property in accordance with their oral agreement. He points out that, according to Family Code section 2550, the court was statutorily mandated to order an equal division of community assets, “[ejxcept upon the written agreement of the parties, or on oral stipulation of the parties in…