I. BACKGROUND.
FOR HAWAII CLIENTS
A. Community property is a regime of marital property that traces it roots to civil law systems.1. Most property acquired during marriage is owned jointly by both spouses and divided equally in the event of divorce, annulment or death, no matter what the actual title of the asset may be.
2. Community property rules generally do not apply to property acquired prior to the marriage or to property acquired by gift or inheritance during the marriage.
3. Division of community property may take place by item, by splitting all items or by value. In some jurisdictions, such as California, an equal division of community property is mandated by statute. See California Family Code Sec. 2550.
4. There are 10 community property states, mostly in the west: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. The two most populous states, California and Texas, containing almost 20% of the U.S. population, are community property states.
