Marriage of Grinius

Joyce (plaintiff) and Victor Grinius (defendant), married when they opened a restaurant, took out an $80,000 SBA loan through California First Bank and a separate $40,000 loan from Home Federal Savings and Loan to fund it; Victor alone signed the SBA guaranty, but both spouses signed the SBA promissory note, while Victor alone signed the Home Federal note. Loan proceeds purchased $60,000 in real estate (titled solely in Victor's name, without Joyce's knowledge or consent) and funded a joint checking account covering equipment, restaurant expenses, and the couple's personal living expenses; loan payments came from the joint account until 1978, when Victor paid off the SBA loan balance with his own separate property, and the couple jointly executed a new note paying off the remaining Home Federal balance. Victor stipulated at trial that the restaurant business itself was community property, but the trial court ruled the restaurant real estate was Victor's separate property; Joyce appealed.