Law of Wills, 2016A

The Status of the Parties
Joan Hafner was, at all times from June 12, 1954, until the death of Charles, the wife (spouse) of the
decedent, Charles Hafner. The trial court properly found that Joan and Charles were married, each
for the first time, on June 12, 1954, and that neither had ever taken any steps to dissolve their
marriage.
Charles Hafner was, at all times from June 12, 1954, until his death, the husband (spouse) of Joan
Hafner. We note that Charles was not the putative spouse of Helen. That status belongs only to the
party or parties to a void marriage who the trial court finds to have believed in good faith in the
validity of the void marriage. (Civ. Code § 4452). The trial court did not so find in this case.
Helen was the putative spouse (Civ. Code § 4452) of Charles from October 14, 1963, until his death.
Catherine Kotsay, Lillian Mayorga and Dorothy Hafner, the three daughters of Joan and Charles,
and Kimberly Hafner, the daughter of Helen and Charles, were all children of decedent Charles
Hafner.
The Character of the Property
We must view the character of the property in Charles’s intestate estate from the perspectives of the
surviving wife and the surviving putative spouse.
(a) From the Perspective of Joan
As to Joan, the entire probate estate was the separate property of Charles, the decedent.
Charles was a married person, married to Joan, and was living separate from her at the time the
money was received by him in 1975, pursuant to the settlement of his claim for damages for
personal injury.
At the time Charles’s personal injury settlement money was received, in 1975, Civil Code section
5126 provided, in pertinent part: “(a) All money ... received by a married person ... for damages for
personal injuries ... pursuant to an agreement for the settlement or compromise of a claim for such
damages is the separate property of the injured person if such money ... is received ...:... (2) While
either spouse, if he or she is the injured person, is living separate from the other spouse.”
Civil Code section 5126 is consonant with Civil Code section 5118 which provides, in pertinent part:
“The earnings and accumulations of a spouse ... while separate and apart from the other spouse, are
the separate property of the spouse.”
(b) From the Perspective of Helen
As to Helen, the entire probate estate is quasi-marital property.
The trial court found that Helen was the putative spouse of Charles. At the time of the events of this
case, former section 4452 of the Civil Code, a part of The Family Law Act enacted in 1969,
provided, in pertinent part: “Whenever a determination is made that a marriage is void or voidable
and the court finds that either party or both parties believed in good faith that the marriage was
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