Book Description

Written by a recognized expert on community property and family law issues in California, Grace Ganz Blumberg’s comprehensive casebook prepares students for the California bar examination and equips them for California practice in the areas of divorce, decedents’ estates, and debtor-creditor law. Community Property in California carefully balances cases, notes, questions, and problems for student comprehension. Because community property is a relatively narrow subject involving the interplay of state legislation and case law, the casebook is structured to encourage students to develop and refine their analytic skills and to enable professors to guide their students in doing so. Comparative text puts California law into context by including references to sister-state law, the Uniform Marital Property Act and the marital property chapter of the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution. New to the 8th Edition: The California Supreme Court’s 2020 decision, In re Brace, which upended almost a century of community property law, leaving many unresolved questions in its wake. Critical notes on the origins and subsequent development of the Pereira/Van Camp business apportionment doctrine. Further treatment of the Family Code section 4 rule requiring that current family law be applied to events occurring before its effective date, with particular attention to the enforceability of premarital agreements entered under prior law. Professors and students will benefit from: Problems and questions for stimulating class discussion Thorough preparation for the community property essay question on the California bar examination A casebook that students enjoy reading A focus on enhanced lawyering skills, with emphasis on problem solving