## Facts

- Joan deElche, her former husband, and Harry and Mrs. Jacobsen socialized on the Jacobsens’ community-owned sailboat.
- The gathering was treated as community recreation; alcohol was consumed heavily.
- DeElche went to sleep on her ex-husband’s boat, moored alongside the Jacobsens’ boat.
- Harry Jacobsen, intoxicated, boarded the other boat and forcibly raped deElche.
- DeElche obtained a civil money judgment against Jacobsen personally for the rape, classified as Jacobsen’s separate tort liability.
- The Jacobsens had a community property agreement converting all property to community property, leaving Jacobsen with no separate property.
- Under existing Washington doctrine, community property was exempt from execution for a spouse’s separate tort, rendering the judgment effectively uncollectible despite sufficient community personal property.

## Issues

1. Whether a judgment for one spouse’s separate tort may be satisfied from the tortfeasor spouse’s one-half interest in community personal property.
2. Whether the categorical exemption of community property from execution on separate tort judgments should be modified to permit partial recovery while protecting the non-tortfeasor spouse.

## Decision

- The Washington Supreme Court modified prior law and rejected a blanket immunity of community property from separate tort judgments.
- A separate tort creditor may execute on the tortfeasor spouse’s one-half interest in community personal property and on any separate property of the tortfeasor spouse.
- The non-tortfeasor spouse’s one-half interest in community property is not liable for the other spouse’s separate tort judgment.
- The matter was remanded for proceedings consistent with allowing execution against Jacobsen’s one-half interest in community personal property.

## Legal Principles

- Community property is not categorically exempt from liability for one spouse’s separate tort.
- A creditor holding a judgment for a spouse’s separate tort may reach:
  - The tortfeasor spouse’s separate property (if any), and
  - The tortfeasor spouse’s one-half interest in community personal property.
- The innocent spouse’s separate property and one-half interest in community property are protected from execution for the other spouse’s separate tort.
- The rule reflects that each spouse holds a present, vested one-half interest in community property, supporting execution against the tortfeasor spouse’s share while preserving the other spouse’s share.

## Conclusion

The court altered Washington community-property doctrine by permitting a separate tort judgment to be collected from the tortfeasor spouse’s one-half interest in community personal property (and any separate property), while shielding the non-tortfeasor spouse’s one-half community interest from liability.


deElche v. Jacobsen, 622 P.2d 835 (Wash. 1980)