## Facts

- In 2004, G.C. and R.W., a same-sex couple, entered into a domestic partnership under New Jersey law.
- In 2009, they married in Connecticut.
- In 2011, they bought a home in California and moved there.
- Title to the home was taken in both names as joint tenants.
- Both parties were listed on the purchase-money mortgage, but when the loan was later refinanced, only G.C. was listed as the borrower.
- In 2012, G.C. filed for divorce in California.
- The trial court set the date of marriage as 2009 (the Connecticut marriage), not 2004 (the New Jersey domestic partnership), based on its finding that the New Jersey domestic partnership was not “substantially equivalent” to a California registered domestic partnership under Family Code section 299.2.
- The trial court also divided the home in proportion to each party’s traced separate-property contributions to the property, including the property’s appreciation.
- R.W. appealed, challenging (among other rulings) the marriage date determination and the proportional division of the home.

## Issues

1. Whether the parties’ 2004 New Jersey domestic partnership was “substantially equivalent” to a California registered domestic partnership under Family Code section 299.2, such that the relationship should be treated as beginning in 2004 for purposes of dissolution proceedings in California.
2. Whether the trial court erred by dividing the parties’ California home in proportion to their respective separate-property contributions (including appreciation) despite joint tenancy title and a refinance listing only one spouse as the borrower.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s rulings on the issues addressed in the published opinion.
- The court agreed that the 2004 New Jersey domestic partnership was not “substantially equivalent” to a California registered domestic partnership under Family Code section 299.2; therefore, the operative relationship date for this dissolution was the parties’ 2009 Connecticut marriage, not their earlier New Jersey domestic partnership.
- The court upheld the trial court’s division of the California home in proportion to each party’s separate-property contributions, including a proportional allocation of appreciation, concluding the record supported the trial court’s findings notwithstanding joint tenancy title and the later refinance.

## Legal Principles

- Family Code section 299.2 requires California courts to evaluate whether an out-of-state domestic partnership (or similar status) confers rights and responsibilities that are comparable in substance to those of a California registered domestic partnership; similarity in name alone is not enough.
- If the out-of-state status is not substantially equivalent under section 299.2, California courts need not treat the parties as having entered a California-recognized domestic partnership as of the foreign registration date.
- In dividing property at dissolution, trial courts may rely on tracing evidence and the parties’ demonstrated ownership arrangement to determine each spouse’s interest in property acquired in both names, including how appreciation should be allocated, when supported by the evidence.
- The fact that title is held in joint tenancy and that only one spouse later refinanced the loan does not, by itself, require a different ownership allocation when the trial court’s contribution-based findings are supported by the record.

## Conclusion

In re Marriage of G.C. and R.W. held that the parties’ 2004 New Jersey domestic partnership was not substantially equivalent to a California registered domestic partnership under Family Code section 299.2, so the dissolution relationship date was their 2009 Connecticut marriage. The Court of Appeal also affirmed a property division awarding each spouse a proportionate share of the California home’s equity and appreciation based on traced separate-property contributions, despite joint tenancy title and a refinance in only one spouse’s name.


In re Marriage of G.C. and R.W., 23 Cal. App. 5th 1, 232 Cal. Rptr. 3d 484 (2018)