Pereira v. Pereira

156 Cal. 1 (1909)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H and Jane (W) married on April 19, 1900. At that time, H was carrying on a saloon and cigar business producing a net income of about five thousand dollars annually. H owned the cigar and saloon stock and fixtures, worth in all about fifteen thousand five hundred dollars, and had, besides, some six thousand dollars in cash. After marriage, H bought a home paying twenty-seven hundred dollars and spent another twenty-three hundred dollars in improving it. This home was adjudged to be his separate property. H bought the property in which he was carrying on business at the price of forty thousand dollars. He paid five thousand dollars down and the balance of the price and accumulated the cash on hand at the time of trial, in addition, amounting to over twelve thousand dollars. H's income at the time of trial was about eleven thousand dollars a year. There were unexplained discrepancies between the total amount of his income less the household expenses and his total gains. H also used a bank draft to conceal money from the court. It is very clear that the principal part of the large income was due to the personal character, energy, ability, and capacity of H This share of the earnings was, of course, community property. But without capital, he could not have carried on the business. W got a judgment of divorce for extreme cruelty and was awarded 3/5ths of all H’s earnings and acquisitions from the business because the court ruled them to be community property. H appealed. H contends that the court did not account for his personal investment in the business prior to the marriage. The Court of Appeals reversed and W petitioned the court for a recalculation for the initial investment and a capital return on it of seven percent. P again appealed.