## Facts

- Carol J. Schultz petitioned to dissolve her marriage to Alvin G. Schultz.
- During the marriage, the community incurred many debts, including a $4,250 obligation to Conrad Blasco.
- Blasco sued Alvin for the community obligation. At the time, Alvin was no longer living at the marital home, though it remained his legal address.
- Notice of the Blasco hearing was mailed to the marital home. Alvin did not receive the notice, did not appear, and Blasco obtained a default judgment against him (about $5,000).
- In the dissolution proceedings, the family residence was ordered sold and the proceeds placed into counsel’s trust account for payment of listed community debts before any division of remaining funds.
- After the residence sold, disputes arose over how to distribute the sale proceeds and how to treat the Blasco judgment within the community-debt allocation.
- In a post-judgment allocation, the trial court treated the Blasco judgment as a community obligation but, citing statutory authority to depart from equal division (then Civil Code § 4800; now reflected in Fam. Code § 2602), assigned $3,500 of the judgment to Alvin and $1,500 to Carol.
- The trial court also approved credits and adjustments tied to claimed post-judgment payments, based largely on discussions and representations that were not placed on the record with supporting testimony or documents.
- Alvin appealed the post-judgment order, challenging the unequal division of the Blasco judgment debt and the credit/adjustment items approved without an adequate evidentiary record.

## Issues

1. May a dissolution court assign an unequal share of a community judgment debt to one spouse absent record evidence supporting a statutory basis to depart from equal division?
2. May a dissolution court award post-judgment credits or adjustments when the factual basis is not established by admissible evidence or an on-the-record stipulation?
3. Can off-the-record chambers discussions supply the factual foundation for contested community debt allocations and credits on appeal?

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal held the trial court erred by allocating the Blasco judgment debt unequally without evidentiary support for a statutory departure from equal division.
- The Court of Appeal held the challenged credits and adjustments could not be upheld where the record lacked testimony, documentary proof, or an on-the-record stipulation establishing the amounts and their proper characterization.
- The Court of Appeal modified the post-judgment order to correct the improper allocation and remanded for further proceedings consistent with the requirement of an adequate record.

## Legal Principles

- Community property and community obligations are to be divided equally on dissolution unless a statute authorizes a different allocation and the facts supporting that departure are proved in the record.
- A judgment entered against one spouse on a community obligation does not, by itself, make the debt that spouse’s separate responsibility for purposes of division in dissolution.
- Statutory authority to assign a debt unequally (such as provisions addressing misconduct or other specified circumstances) requires proof; a court’s discretionary allocation must be supported by evidence.
- Credits for payments made after judgment or separation may be permitted, but the party seeking the credit must establish the basis and amount with competent evidence or an on-the-record stipulation.
- Appellate review depends on the record; unreported conferences and informal discussions cannot substitute for evidence or formal stipulations when the order is contested.

## Conclusion

Marriage of Schultz requires equal division of community debts, including a community judgment debt taken by default against one spouse, unless a statutorily authorized reason for unequal allocation is proved on the record; it also rejects post-judgment credits and adjustments that lack evidentiary support or an on-the-record stipulation, resulting in modification and remand for properly supported proceedings.


Marriage of Schultz, 164 Cal. Rptr. 653 (1980)