Do Legal Fees Come From Separate Property

I was wondering if there is case law or any statute that says that money used for legal fees comes from community property in the case where one party is awarded legal fees to be paid by the other party.

I live in California and am the petitioner. I came to the marriage with some money (SP) and the respondent only had debt. We were married for 6 years and we each only worked about 5 months total -- that money was all spent for the community so my contention is that no community property exists other than possibly the increase in value on our home which is titled in both names but paid for with separate property.

I do not work and live by burning my separate property while the respondent does work (as an attorney). Respondent claims to have no money and is going to seek for me to pay legal fees.

It doesn't seem fair that I should have to pay legal fees for both sides but I believe respondent will win on this issue.

I just want to know if there is any case law which says that legal fees are pulled off the top from any award and split evenly? If so, then I think people would think about litigating something to death when it just reduces the size of the estate.

If a spouse is ordered to pay part or all of the other spouse's legal fees, they will be expected to do so from their own separate assets or their share of the marital estate.

If the problem is a cash shortage, it may be possible for the order to be written so that the legal fees advance to the spouse are eventually deducted from that spouse's share of the marital estate. Talk to your lawyer.