Twas the Night Before a Gift Was Not a Gift
Twas the week before Christmas, when my neighbor went out,
Purchased that Gucci handbag, his wife had been hinting about.
As of late, they’d been having some big fights,
He hoped a gift this nice would set things right.
Later that day he began to feel remorse,
He wondered, what would happen to the purse if there was a divorce?
He asked for my advice and offered me an egg nogg,
He wanted my legal opinion, He wanted my dialogue.
What happens to the purse if she files for divorce,
How do I get it back, would I need force?
Should I spoil Christmas by explaining the laws of community property,
I’m a divorce lawyer! Ruining Christmas doesn’t bother me.
Most property acquired during a marriage is community property and will be equitably divided during a divorce. But there’s an important distinction between “gifts” and other purchases. Gifts are not divided in a divorce because they belong solely to the spouse who received them. Gifts are not community property. The question then becomes whether the purse was a gift or community property purchase.
One way to show a gift was a gift is what accompanied it and how it was given. Did it come with a card or wrapped with a bow? If so, it’s probably a gift. Walking through a mall with your spouse and buying them expensive sunglasses is probably not a gift. However, same sunglasses wrapped like a gift and given as a birthday present would be a gift. And would be your spouse’s separate property.
My neighbor exclaimed, “but that bag cost me a fortune!”,
He looked at me in dismay, this feels like extortion!
Then hope filled his eyes. I could see an idea had surfaced,
She can’t prove it was a gift. I used our credit card for the purchase.
As a lawyer who loves being nice,
I decided to give him the gift of free legal advice.
My heart grew three sizes and overflowed with Christmas spirit,
As I told him why his plan was incoherent.
She would need to prove the purse was a gift. But showing it was purchased with a joint credit card is not where she would turn. There are better ways to prove an item was a gift. One way is to provide the card that came with the gift. The gift recipient could provide Christmas and birthday videos to the court, or ask friends and family members who witnessed the gift-giving to testify. For high-value gifts, people can become very creative to prove their separate property claims. In one case, a spouse produced a photo of her Lexus with a giant bow on top given to her on her birthday.
Quite pleased with myself for helping a friend,
I asked my neighbor if his marriage was still at an end.
“Who knows,” he muttered, I guess she’ll keep the purse either way,
And despite my gift of knowledge, his face became sad and gray.
But then his eyes got a sparkle, a new plan was just made,
I’ll buy a Rolex watch to be repaid!”
“A watch?” I asked. What good will that do?
And with a smirk, he said “I might even buy two”.
I’ll include a card with her signature and put it under the tree,
On Christmas morning, I’ll take one picture or maybe three!
If a divorce is filed, she can keep the purse as a gift,
I’ll keep two watches, this will be a fair split.
My mouth dropped open, but I was unable to speak,
That is not at all what I was trying to teach.
Before I could talk, he was out of sight.
From a distance I heard him shout, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
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