In re the Estate of Boody

Citations

• 113 Cal. 682
• 45 P. 858
• 1896 Cal. LEXIS 841

Syllabus

<p>Husband and Wife—Community Property—Presumption—Burden of Proof.—The presumption is that lands purchased during marriage are community property, and this presumption can be overthrown only by evidence of a clear, certain, and convincing character, establishing the contrary; and the burden of rebutting this presumption rests upon the parties claiming the separate character of the property; and, in the absence of such rebutting proof, the presumption as to the community character of the property is absolute and conclusive.</p> <p>Id.—Partnership before Marriage—Possessory Right—Patents Ac^x quired after Marriage.—The presumption that lands, the patents to which were applied for and acquired long after marriage, are community property, is not overcome by proof that a possessory right to such lands was held by a partnership before marriage, of which the husband was a member, in the absence of proof that the money paid to obtain the title was clearly and distinctly traceable to the separate property of the husband, not by way of surmises and probabilities, but by ain and connected channels; nor is the naked right of possession by the partners jointly such a right as to give one of the partners an equity to which the subsequently acquired title to part of the land so held could attach.</p> <p>Id.—Succession to Community Property—Estates of Deceased Persons —Distribution.—At the death of the husband without descendants, the wife is entitled to succeed to three-fourths of the community property, which passes to her heirs at her death, and a decree of distribution of the deceased husband’s estate, awarding only one-half of the property to the heirs of the deceased wife, is erroneous and will be reversed.</p>