See v. See

64 Cal.2d 778 (1966)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H and W married on October 17, 1941, and they separated about May 10, 1962. H was employed by a family-controlled corporation, See's Candies, Inc. H served as president of its wholly-owned subsidiary, See's Candy Shops, Inc. In the twenty-one years of the marriage, he received more than $1,000,000 in salaries from the two corporations. H had a personal account on the books of See's Candies, Inc., denominated Account 13. H's annual salary was credited to this account, and many family expenses were paid by checks drawn on it. H from time to time transferred funds to it from an account at the Security First National Bank (the Security Account). The funds deposited in the Security Account were primarily from H's separate property. On occasion, he deposited his annual $15,000 salary from See's Candy Shops, Inc. in that account as a 'reserve against taxes' on that salary. There was a commingling of community property and separate property in both the Security Account and Account 13. Funds from the Security Account were sometimes used to pay community expenses and also to purchase some of the assets held in H's name at the time of the divorce proceedings. At trial, H posited that a proven excess of community expenses over community income during the marriage establishes that there has been no acquisition of property with community funds. The trial court agreed. Both parties appealed.