In re Marriage of Lafkas

The husband (husband) owned one-third of a real estate partnership for several years prior to marrying the wife (wife). During the parties’ marriage, the partnership modified the partnership agreement. The modified agreement stated the names of each partner, including husband and wife as owners of a one-third interest. Husband and wife filed for dissolution within a year.

On appeal, husband contends the partnership interest is his separate property, because the documents do not contain an express declaration transmuting the character of the property interest as required under Family Code section 852. Wife asserts that the partnership interest is community property under the joint title presumption of section 2581, which provides that property acquired during marriage in joint form is presumed to be community property. We hold that when a spouse places separate property in joint title form, the transmutation requirements of section 852 must be satisfied before the joint title presumption of section 2581 applies. The documents in this case do not contain an express transmutation of husband’s separate property interest in the partnership, and therefore, it remained…