Williams v. Williams

92 Cal. Rptr. 385 (1971)

Facts

H and W were married May 8, 1955. Almost 13 years later, the marriage had deteriorated to the point where divorce was imminent. H withdrew $39,251.50 from a savings and loan association account and received $73,237.76 from the dissolution of a stock account at the office of a stockbroker. On April 19, 1968, W brought a divorce action against H, but it was shortly thereafter dismissed. The present action for divorce was brought by W May 27, 1968. W was awarded alimony in the sum of $1.00 per year. No issue of child support was involved. One parcel of real property was found to be H's separate property. Five other parcels of real property were found to be community property and W was awarded an undivided one-half interest in each parcel. Disposition of life insurance policies, automobiles, clothing, and other relatively insignificant items is not attacked. Evidence showed that H somehow spent or disposed of the entire $110,489.26. The court was able to trace $22,126.00 of the funds. The evidence was such that any amount spent on the community was unclear. The trial court for want of a better word just ignored the amount. W appealed contending she was entitled to ½ of the balance of the monies for which H did not account for. W appealed.