Ruiz

Appellant Flora S. Ruiz (wife) and respondent George L. Ruiz (husband) were married on March 17, 1973, and separated on March 18, 2005. Judgment was entered on July 28, 2009, following a trial on disputed property issues. Wife appeals, raising two issues.

The first issue presented on appeal pertains to the trial court’s apportionment of a lump-sum payout of workers’ compensation benefits wife received approximately three years before their separation. Wife contends that the trial court erred by applying the general presumption that property acquired during marriage is community property, by placing the burden on her to produce evidence that the payout was separate property, and by devising a scheme of *352 apportioning the funds in the absence of any evidence supporting the scheme. Wife also contends that the trial court erred in awarding husband $32,800 in so-called Epstein credits. (In re Marriage of Epstein (1979) 24 Cal.3d 76 [ 154 Cal.Rptr. 413 , 592 P.2d 1165 ] (Epstein).)

We find no error in the court’s characterization of the workers’ compensation award as partially community property and partially separate property and no abuse of discretion as to its…