Marriage of Dadashian

BACKGROUND

I. Margulis addresses how to allocate and account for the disposition of assets that are missing from the community estate at the time of property division, when one spouse solely controlled and managed the asset after the parties separated. It holds that “where the nonmanaging spouse offers prima

2 facie evidence that community assets of a certain value have disappeared while in the control of the managing spouse postseparation,” the managing spouse has the burden of proof to account for the missing assets. (Margulis, supra, 198 Cal.App.4th at p. 1257.) Under the Margulis burden-shifting framework, “once a nonmanaging spouse makes a prima facie showing concerning the existence and value of community assets in the control of the other spouse postseparation, the burden of proof shifts to the managing spouse to rebut the showing or prove the proper disposition or lesser value of these assets. If the managing spouse fails to meet this burden, the court should charge the managing spouse with the assets according to the prima facie showing.”1 (Margulis, supra, 198 Cal.App.4th at p. 1267.) Margulis derived this rule from both general legal principles and inter- spousal…