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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Boat as Sole and Separate Property in California

    I would appreciate some guidance here. My fiance has gone through an extremely bitter and messy divorce (yes he is divorced for more than a year) but they are still fighting over a boat. The boat was purchased by my fiance 5 months prior to their legal separation date for $1000 (it had no engines). Since then my fiance has spent much money and labor on restoring it to its present condition and worth (probably no more than $20k although we are having it appraised next week). The boat is and always has been titled in his name only. She has never put money or time into it, nor has she even been on it (well, she did break in once to steal the registration tags to try to prove ownership). She has a long history of identity theft, fraud, car theft, embezzlement etc and was in jail for the first year that the boat was actually owned. According to what I'm reading in the CA law practice guides, the boat is an exception to community property rules, since it is titled in my fiance's name, and it should be viewed as sole and separate property, with the burden of proof on her to show that there was the intention for it to be communal not separate (this burden of proof being above and beyond . Obviously my fiance's position is that she was not involved in the purchase, never put a dime into it, nor has she ever been on it so she doesn't deserve proceeds from the sale. The financial settlement has dragged on now for close to 3 yrs with us forbidden from selling the boat so he's had to bear the full burden of monthly slip fees, insurance, property taxes etc w/no input from her. Does she have any community interest or should be viewed as sole and separate property? (My fiance has had to let his attorney go after 4 years of her stall tactics which accomplished nothing and ran up huge bills so we're trying to figure this out on our own).

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Boat as Sole and Separate Property in California

    They have lawyers, don't they?

    Obviously he did himself no favors buying the boat before the divorce, presumably with money that was a marital asset, even if he did title it exclusively in his own name.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Boat as Sole and Separate Property in California

    No they do not have lawyers. This has dragged on for several years due to the ex-wife's stall tactics and it got way too expensive.

    He bought it 5 mos prior to their separation date. She was on trial for a criminal charge which sent her to jail for 44 mos shortly thereafter. Approximately $3500 of community money can be traced to the boat prior to separation with an additional $40k post-separation on new engines etc plus a large amount of hours in labor by my fiance. The ex-wife is unable to provide any evidence that she ever contributed to this boat in any way that would indicate ownership, nor does she have any evidence that shows that the intent of the purchase was for the boat to be community property. The present value of the boat should be around $20k and the ex-wife believes she is entitled to 50%. There is also a matter of $16k that the ex-wife stole from him in forged checks and credit card theft before and after separation which we feel should more than offset any community interest she might have in the boat.

    Bottom line, we don't want her to get anything from the boat. She's forced us to hold off on selling it for almost two years now by her stall tactics. It was never intended to be hers in the first place nor did she ever contribute in any way to it (she couldn't even where he bought the boat when asked in her deposition). It's been costly to keep up insurance and slip fees to the tune of $300+ per month for the last couple of years while she refuses to produce discovery, skips depositions etc. How can she get anything at all other than a bill for our attorney's services?

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