In California, couples need to mark the date of their separation. The date is necessary to determine property and spousal support rights and interests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Property acquired after the date of separation is deemed to be separate to each party; property acquired before the date of separation is community property. <\/p>\n
The difficulty is, many couples do not think to record their exact date of separation. Such a life-altering change can also be difficult to tie to a single day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, a couple might come to the conclusion that their eight-year marriage is over in 2011, but continue to cohabit and share expenses and parenting duties until 2014. Was their marriage eight or 11 years long?\u00a0<\/p>\n
In many cases, former spouses struggle to agree on a named separation date. If that happens, courts use two different tests to determine a date \u2013 a subjective test and an objective test.<\/p>\n
The subjective test holds that physical separation (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In California, couples need to mark the date of their separation. The date is necessary to determine property and spousal support rights and interests.\u00a0 Property acquired after the date of separation is deemed to be separate to each party; property…<\/span><\/p>\n