MBE Rules · Community Property
Interspousal Injury Recoveries
Cal. Fam. Code § 781
The rule
Damages recovered from the other spouse for personal injury are the injured spouse's separate property; § 780 community treatment applies only to third-party recoveries during marriage.
In plain English
When one spouse is injured and recovers damages from the other spouse, those damages are considered the injured spouse's separate property. This rule applies because the community property laws only pertain to recoveries from third parties, not between spouses.
Worked example
Hannah and Jake are married when Hannah is injured in a car accident caused by Jake's negligence. Hannah sues Jake and receives $50,000 in damages for her injuries. According to the rule, the $50,000 is considered Hannah's separate property, not community property.
Memory hook
Injuries between spouses? The recovery is separate property, not community!
The trap
Examiners may present scenarios where students must differentiate between recoveries from a spouse versus a third party, leading to confusion about property classification.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve a fact pattern where one spouse injures the other, requiring candidates to identify the nature of the recovery and its classification as separate or community property.
Drill this rule until it can't fail you.
Vrenberg generates unlimited questions on this exact rule, tracks your mastery of it, and brings it back until it sticks.
More Community Property rules
- Interspousal Fiduciary Duty · Cal. Fam. Code § 721; § 1100(e)
- Management and Control of CP · Cal. Fam. Code § 1100(a)-(d)
- Equal Division at Dissolution · Cal. Fam. Code § 2550
- Putative Spouse Doctrine · Cal. Fam. Code § 2251
- Business Goodwill · Marriage of Foster (goodwill)
- Severance Pay · Severance pay (Cal.)