Basic Moore Marsden

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. CONSULT YOUR DIVORCE ATTORNEY.

Moore Marsden is simply about dividing the equity of the marital home, which was either acquired before the date of marriage or with separate property during marriage. Here, you divide two things. First, you divide the “contributions towards the acquisition of the property” as defined in Family Code Section 2640 (FC 2640), which is often called the "reimbursement" claim. Second, you divide the appreciation before the date of marriage (Marriage or Marsden) and the appreciation from the date of marriage until the date closest to trial (Marriage of Moore), which is called the "equitable" claim (since there is an equitable interest) using a well-established formula.

The Moore Marsden formula (or “the Formula”) has six basic elements: (1) the purchase price; (2) the down payment; (3) the mortgage principal payments made on the “original” mortgage before the date of marriage; (4) the mortgage payments made on the “original” mortgage from the date of marriage until the date of separation (or during marriage); (5) the appreciation from the date of purchase to the date of marriage; and (6) the appreciation from the date of marriage until the date closest to trial. All the elements except for the fifth element are used in the percentage. The second, third, and fourth elements are “the contributions” as defined in FC 2640. The Formula also applies to commercial property (Marriage of Frick)

The Formula produces a percentage used to divide the appreciation from the date of marriage until the date closest to trial; however, the Formula stops at the date of separation. In fancy terms, the Formula produces a pro-tanto apportionment percentage based on contributions during marriage, which is used to divide the appreciation from the date of marriage until the date closest to trial.

Payments for home improvements are reimbursement claims under FC 2640, but they are not used in the Formula. Moreover, the mortgage payments made after the date of separation are not included in the Formula. These two are often mistakenly used in the formula even by divorce forensic expert witnesses based on my professional experience.

There are two kinds of mortgages: Amortized and interest-only loans. Amortized loans include payments toward the principal and interest, while interest-only loans only include interest payments. Only the principal payments are included in the Formula. So, interest only loans do not “contribute to the acquisition of the property.”

The market values at the date of marriage and the date closest to trial are important but are sometimes controversial if there are wide differences of value opinions between spouses and occasionally real estate appraisers. The appreciation before marriage belongs to the owner of the marital home (Marriage of Marsden). This is their separate property. Whereas the appreciation during marriage is both separate property and community property (Marriage of Moore), which is sometimes called mixed property.

Other cases and facts will affect the Formula. Cases like the Marriage of Branco, the Marriage of Walrath, the Marriage of Watts, the Marriage of Esptein, the Marriage of Haynes, the Marriage of Kushesh, the Marriage of Grinius just to name several may be relevant in your case. Please call Greg Raffaele at 949.264.1455 to discuss your case.