CALIFORNIA FAMILY LAW
...Community Property Issues
......Division of C/P
.........Equal Division Required
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Equal division required by statute.

Interests of spouses in assets of marital community are "present, existing, and equal" during continuance of marriage.

In dissolution, residual assets each party receives, after deduction of liabilities, must be equal.

Parties not required to divide c/p equally; court does not scrutinize the MSA to ensure that it sets out an equal division.

If assets exceed liabilities, both must be divided equally.

Court merely divides the c/p which parties already own by virtue of marital relationship.

Assets must be divided equally after first subtracting all debts.

Cal. views spouses as equally contributing to acquisition of c/p, regardless of which spouse actually "earned" property.

Division of assets must be meaningful.

Legislature’s fundamental objective with respect to the disposition of c/p upon dissolution under Family Law Act was to provide for an equal division; the ideal clearly is a mathematically equal division.