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DIVISION 6. NULLITY, DISSOLUTION, AND LEGAL SEPARATION 2000-2452›PART 2. JUDICIAL DETERMINATION OF VOID OR VOIDABLE MARRIAGE 2200-2255›CHAPTER 3. Procedural Provisions 2250-2255

§ 2251

California Family Code · 2020-11 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · California

(a) If 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 valid, the court shall:

(1) Declare the party or parties, who believed in good faith that the marriage was valid, to have the status of a putative spouse.

(2) If the division of property is in issue, divide, in accordance with Division 7 (commencing with Section 2500), that property acquired during the union that would have been community property or quasi-community property if the union had not been void or voidable, only upon request of a party who is declared a putative spouse under paragraph (1). This property is known as “quasi-marital property.”

(b) If the court expressly reserves jurisdiction, it may make the property division at a time after the judgment.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 196, Sec. 1. (AB 380) Effective January 1, 2016.)

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