Family
Mar. 11, 2021
Was it a gift, or wasn’t it?
If both the common and legal meaning of “gift” are the same, why are gifts given during marriage not always a gift? Because in dissolution proceedings, not all gifts are treated equally. So when is a gift really a gift?
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Scott J. Nord
Judge
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Whittier Law School, 1996
The testimony usually proceeds as follows: "[he/she] said when we bought the [fill in the expensive item (car, house, jewelry, jet skis, etc.)], 'I hope you enjoy your birthday gift'" Therefore, the gift receiver argues at the time of dissolution "it is separate property and not community property because it was a gift."
Merriam-Webster defines "gift" as "something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensatio...
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