Marriage of Dang CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

The parties were married on September 20, 2002, and separated on August 6, 2010. They had one child together, born in 2008. After a two-day trial on outstanding property issues, the trial court made the following rulings that are the subject of this appeal: (1) Husband was liable to Wife based on losses of approximately $75,000 resulting from his unauthorized trading in a TD Ameritrade stock margin account (TDA account) after their separation; (2) Husband is not entitled to reimbursement based on the community use of proceeds from the refinance of his separate property; and (3) based on the values of three community vehicles divided between the parties, Husband must provide Wife an equalizing payment of $2,973.

A. TDA Account

Throughout the marriage, Husband engaged in online day trading with the TDA account, which was in his name. Husband never claimed during the marriage that the account was his separate property. Before their separation, Wife was aware of Husband’s day trading but played no role in it and asked no questions about it. Wife’s dissolution petition was filed on August 18, 2010. Husband was served the next day with a summons and other papers…