Schindler v. Schindler
Court of Appeal of California
272 P.2d 566 (1954)
Mr. and Mrs. Schindler bought their marital home in California and took title as joint tenants, using funds earned from Mr. Schindler's community-property income, but the couple never actually discussed how they wanted to hold title. When Mrs. Schindler (plaintiff) later filed for divorce and asked the trial court to characterize the property, she testified she personally believed the home was community property, and the trial court agreed based on that intent, ruling the residence was community property despite the joint-tenancy deed; Mr. Schindler (defendant) appealed, arguing the couple had always intended joint tenancy as reflected in the deed itself.
Whether real property, titled in a joint tenancy on the deed, is considered community property if it is purchased with community-property funds and one party intended that it be owned as community property.