California Family Code § 1100: Management and Control of Community Personal Property

Plain-Language Summary

California Family Code § 1100 outlines the rules that govern how spouses can manage and control community personal property. Each spouse generally has equal rights to manage community property, including bank accounts, vehicles, household furnishings, and other jointly owned assets. However, there are limits to this control—especially when one spouse tries to give away or sell community property without the other’s knowledge or consent.

The section includes rules meant to protect both spouses, prevent unfair transfers of shared property, and ensure transparency and accountability during marriage and divorce proceedings. Special protections apply to gifts and transfers made without the other spouse’s consent.

Real-World Examples

Unauthorized gift of money: If one spouse donates a large sum of money to a friend or relative from a joint bank account without the other spouse’s knowledge or consent, the transaction may be voided under § 1100(b).
Selling shared assets without agreement: A spouse who tries to sell a jointly owned car or valuable artwork without informing the other may be liable for breach of fiduciary duty and required to reimburse the community.
Misuse during divorce: During a pending divorce, if a spouse withdraws large amounts of money or transfers community property for personal use, the court may view that act as a violation of this statute.

Published Case Law on § 1100

In re Marriage of Feldman (2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 1470 – Husband deliberately hid community assets from his wife and repeatedly violated the mandatory disclosure rules, breaching his fiduciary duty under Fam. Code §1100(e). The Fourth District affirmed sanctions and fees against him, holding that a managing spouse who intentionally thwarts the disclosure process can be sanctioned without a showing of actual prejudice to the other spouse.
In re Marriage of Kamgar (2017) 18 Cal.App.5th 136 – Husband made extensive options trades with community funds beyond the risk level authorized by wife and then concealed the losses, violating the mutual fiduciary duty. The Court of Appeal held he breached his duty under Fam. Code §1100(e) to disclose material financial dealings and upheld the award of wife’s half of the community losses (with interest) as compensation for the breach.
In re Marriage of DeSouza (2020) 54 Cal.App.5th 25 – While divorce was pending, husband used community funds to buy bitcoin through intermediaries and failed to tell wife, causing a loss when the exchange later went bankrupt. The First District held this nondisclosure breached the duty of disclosure in Fam. Code §1100(e) and impaired the community interest, ordering husband to transfer wife’s 50% share of the cryptocurrency (or its value) to her.
In re Marriage of Ciprari (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 83 – The court there reviewed whether husband’s use of community funds to benefit their children violated the statutory fiduciary rules. It noted that Fam. Code §1100(b) forbids a spouse from gifting community property without the other’s consent, but observed that this prohibition “does not apply to gifts mutually given by both spouses.” In Ciprari the trial court found, based on the record, that the husband’s payments were part of a joint estate plan (gifts made by both spouses), so §1100(b) did not apply. On appeal the court affirmed that holding, saying that substantial evidence supported treating the transfers as mutual gifts (thus not a breach of the §1100(b) duty).
Kirwan v. Kirwan (In re Marriage of Kirwan) (2017) 15 Cal.App.5th 473 – The appellate court there emphasized that Fam. Code §1100(e) imposes “the highest good faith and fair dealing” duty and full-disclosure obligations on spouses managing community property. In Kirwan, the husband (a financial professional) spent all of the community funds from employer loans without reserving anything for the couple’s tax liabilities. The court held this conduct grossly negligent in light of the fiduciary duty of §1100(e). As a result, it found he breached his duty to his wife by failing to set aside funds for taxes, and that he alone must bear the tax burden because his reckless spending had impaired the community estate.
In re Marriage of Wiese (2024) 102 Cal.App.5th 917 – The Fourth District in Wiese clarified that the rules in Fam. Code §§1100–1103 apply only to community property. It held section 1100 “contains specific rules governing a spouse’s management of ‘community personal property’” and that these provisions do not reach separate property. In that case the court declined to extend the statute-of-limitations exception for fiduciary breaches to misconduct involving separate property, confirming that §1100’s fiduciary rules (and the remedies in §1101) are limited to breaches affecting the community estate. (Thus Wiese reinforces that §1100 is geared exclusively to protecting the other spouse’s interest in community assets.)

Full Text of California Family Code § 1100

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) and in Section 1103, either spouse has the management and control of the community personal property, with like absolute power of disposition as the spouse has of the separate estate of the spouse.

(b) A spouse may not make a gift of community personal property, or dispose of community personal property for less than fair and reasonable value, without the written consent of the other spouse. This subdivision does not apply to gifts mutually given by both spouses to third parties and to gifts given by one spouse to the other spouse.

(c) A spouse may not sell, convey, or encumber community personal property used as the family dwelling, or the furniture, furnishings, or fittings of the home, or the clothing or wearing apparel of the other spouse or minor children which is community personal property, without the written consent of the other spouse.

(d) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), and in Section 1102, a spouse who is operating or managing a business or an interest in a business that is all or substantially all community personal property has the primary management and control of the business or interest. Primary management and control means that the managing spouse may act alone in all transactions but shall give prior written notice to the other spouse of any sale, lease, exchange, encumbrance, or other disposition of all or substantially all of the personal property used in the operation of the business (including personal property used for agricultural purposes), whether or not title to that property is held in the name of only one spouse. Written notice is not, however, required when prohibited by the law otherwise applicable to the transaction.

Remedies for the failure by a managing spouse to give prior written notice as required by this subdivision are only as specified in Section 1101. A failure to give prior written notice shall not adversely affect the validity of a transaction nor of any interest transferred.

(e) Each spouse shall act with respect to the other spouse in the management and control of the community assets and liabilities in accordance with the general rules governing fiduciary relationships which control the actions of persons having relationships of personal confidence as specified in Section 721, until such time as the assets and liabilities have been divided by the parties or by a court. This duty includes the obligation to make full disclosure to the other spouse of all material facts and information regarding the existence, characterization, and valuation of all assets in which the community has or may have an interest and debts for which the community is or may be liable, and to provide equal access to all information, records, and books that pertain to the value and character of those assets and debts, upon request.