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About Moore Marsden

Moore Marsden is a legal principle that originated from two California court cases, In re Marriage of Moore (1980) and In re Marriage of Marsden (1982). The principle pertains to the division of community property in California divorce cases.

According to the Moore Marsden principle, if a spouse used community funds to purchase a separate property (such as a house), then the community may have an interest in that separate property. The interest is calculated based on the amount of community funds used for the purchase and the amount of time the property was owned during the marriage. The principle applies to any property that was acquired during the marriage.

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Intheritance

I used intheritance(mom’s assets) $158K cash purchased a condo during marriage in 2013. Title is under me and wife names. We did not use any bank loan. We did home improvement. We are middle of divorce in 5 years. The curret value now is $450K in 2023. How much I can get from $158K? Please clarify, Blessings

Posted by: Fred | Posted: November 1, 2023

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Separate

You say the calculation applies when a spouse uses community funds to purchase a property.

My understanding is that it’s when a spouse owned a home prior to marriage w separate funds, and then put the new spouse on title.

Please clarify. Thank you.

Posted by: Dlwilson225 | Posted: September 21, 2023

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Can Moore Marsden calculation be used when a property decreases in value during marriage but increases otherwise?

I purchased a home a little over one year prior to getting married. During that time, the property increased in value. Over the term of the marriage (9.2 years), it then decreased in value. I resided in the house and continued to make payments with my separate funds subsequently to date of separation. I then sold the house about 1.5 years after date of separation and the value of the property increased in value during that time, but still decreased in value from the date of marriage to both date of separation and date of sale. Can a Moore Marsden calculation be used in this situation, which is doesn’t appear it can be and if not, how best to determine property division. I have all the breakdown of SP & CP principal payments, etc. Also, the house was never refinanced which helps a little bit from a simplicity perspective.

Posted by: Asha Patil | Posted: May 29, 2023

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FAQ's

Moore/Marsden is founded on a conception that community property is being “invested” in the separate property by creating equity in it. Thus, during a marriage, only the portion of community assets that is used to pay off loan principal is relevant to establishing the community interest in the property

The Question That Was Asked And What Ultimately Became The Moore Marsden Analysis And Formula Was Whether The Community Was Entitled To Any Portion Of The House As A Result Of The Mortgage Payments Made During The Marriage.

Before We Address The Principal Pay-Down Issue, It Is Important That You Understand The Mortgage Payments In That Case Were Made With Community Property Funds. Had The Mortgage Payments And The Principal Reduction Been Made With The Husband’s Separate Property Funds, The Community Would Likely Not Have Obtained Any Interest In The Home Through The Moore Marsden Formula.

If The Principal Had Not Been Reduced And The Mortgage Payments Made During The Marriage Were Interest-Only, Regardless Of Whether The Community Or The Husband’s Separate Property Paid For It, There Likely Would Not Have Been Any Interest To The Community For The Mortgage Payments Unless There Was Some Other Theory Of Reimbursement That Could Be Made, Such As, As One Example, Improvements To The Home.

To conduct the Moore Marsden analysis, the appellate court needed two additional bits of information, which it had. First, the court needed to know what the market value of the home was at the time of marriage and, second, it needed to know what the value of the home was at the time the analysis was being done (which in a family law case that is contested is the time of trial). In the Marsden case, the fair market value of the house at the time of the marriage was $65,000. At the time of trial, the fair market value of the house was $182,500.

California Family Code § 770 provides that “separate property” includes: Property owned before marriage. Property acquired after marriage by “gift, bequest, devise, or descent” Income derived from the above, including rents and profits.

Community property division simply requires that the net value of the assets received by each spouse is equal—a 50/50 split of the value of the estate. In some cases, one spouse is awarded the family residence, while the other spouse receives the family business and investment real estate.

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