CA Bar Exam 練習答案: Community Property (Feb 2010)

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問題文

February 2010 Question 6
https://nwculaw.edu/pdf/bar/February%202010%20Essays%20and%20Sample%20Answers.pdf

Herb and Wendy, residents of California, married in 2001. Herb worked as an accountant. Wendy was an avid coin collector who hoped someday to turn her hobby into a profitable business. Prior to marriage, they had entered into a prenuptial agreement providing that each spouse’s wages would be his or her separate property.

On Wendy’s birthday in 2002, Herb gave Wendy a drawing by a famous artist. Herb paid for the drawing with $15,000 that his parents had given him. Wendy hung the drawing in their bedroom.

In 2003, Wendy opened CoinCo, a shop specializing in rare coins. She capitalized the business with a $10,000 inheritance that she had received when her grandfather died. Wendy worked at the shop alone every day. Customers appreciated her enthusiasm about coin collecting and her ability to obtain special coins at reasonable prices. Over time, Wendy learned that she had acquired a number of highly valuable coins. There was also a renewed interest in coin collecting due to the discovery of several boxes of old coins found buried in the area.

Although Wendy’s services at the shop were worth $40,000 per year, she took an annual salary of $25,000. She also paid $5,000 in household expenses from the business earnings each year.

In 2008, Herb and Wendy separated, and Wendy filed for dissolution of marriage. At that time, CoinCo was worth $150,000, and the drawing was worth $30,000.

In 2009, before trial of the dissolution proceeding, Wendy was disabled by a serious illness and had to be hospitalized. She closed CoinCo while she was in the hospital, and the value of the business fell to $100,000 by the time of trial. Her hospital bill was not covered by health insurance.

In the dissolution proceeding, Wendy claims that the prenuptial agreement is valid and Herb claims that it is not.

What are Herb’s and Wendy’s respective rights and liabilities in:
1. The drawing? Discuss.
2. CoinCo? Discuss.
3. The hospital bill? Discuss.
Answer according to California law. 

答案

今回はVan CampとPereiraが重要な論点です！苦手な方も多いと思いますが（私も苦手でした）、本問で練習しておきましょう。