Morton (H) and W in Illinois in 1939. H had engaged in the used car business, had a net worth, which he estimated as being between $15,000 and $20,000. In 1949, they moved to California, bringing with them cash and other personal property valued at $143,000, which had been accumulated as a result of H's various Illinois business enterprises. Since that time, H has participated in several California businesses. W filed on 1961 and requested an equitable division of the marital property. W claimed an oral transmutation and also attempted to classify the property as quasi-community. The trial court found no oral transmutation. It also held the quasi-community property legislation to be unconstitutional. It found the household furniture and furnishings to be community property. H appealed.

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