Marriage of Ramsey and Holmes

BACKGROUND

Nakiya Ramsey and Steven Holmes were married on October 27, 2007 and separated on April 27, 2015. They have two children, one born in December 2004 and the other born in June 2007. The family lived together in the home at issue from February 1, 2005 until Ramsey and Holmes separated on April 27, 2015. Ramsey filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in October 2016. A one-day trial was held on Ramsey’s petition in December 2019. The only issues at trial related to custody of the children, child support, and the community property interest in the family home. Our discussion is limited to the evidence presented regarding the family home. Before we begin that discussion, however, we provide context by setting forth the law governing the determination of the community property interest in the home.

A. The Moore/Marsden Formula In In re Marriage of Moore (1980) 28 Cal.3d 366 (Moore), the California Supreme Court addressed “the proper method of calculating the interest obtained by the community as a result of payments made during marriage on the indebtedness secured by a deed of trust on a residence which had been purchased by one of the parties before marriage.” (Id.…