I'm a owner operator living in California and has been married for
about 7 years but now going through divorce, in the course of my
marriage I bought a semi truck and I drive the truck for a living now
my wife wants me to sell the truck so she can take half of the
proceed.  I already sold our house and gave her half the proceed, now
do I have to sell the truck and give her half?

Hi Iskmon ~

You really shouldn't be looking at answers to your legal matters here,
because we are not attorneys and can't give legal advice. Please pay
attention to the Disclaimer at the bottom of this and every Google
Answers page.

Having reminded you of that, however, I would point out that
California is a community property state, and as a rule:

1. Community property is considered anything obtained during the
   marriage - that is the date of the marriage to the date of
   separation.

2. California has definite rules for the division of community
   property if no mutual agreement can be reached by the parties.

3. If the truck was obtained during the marriage and community funds
   were used to purchase it, she is certainly entitled to half its
   value, and a consideration as to half the remaining debt (if any)
   may be taken into consideration.


As a rule, the courts are reluctant to force you to sell your means of
making a living, although they may well award her a portion of the
value of the truck.

While Probonopublico offered advice, I would be reluctant to follow
that. You don't want your wife to hit you with wasting marital assets,
nor do you want the courts to look at you as the type of person who
would.

I have found some general information which may be useful.

* "How property and debts are divided when you get divorced."
  from the Divorce Law Center
  - http://www.divorcelawinfo.com/Pages/prop%20and%20debt%20div.html


* San Diego Family Law Services information on division of property
  in California
  - http://www.sdfamilylawyer.com/family_law_division_of_property.html


* Property and Debt Division FAQ from the Nolo (law for all) site
  - http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/ObjectID/C75906FE-22D5-485C-BF77170850E16820/catID/101C121B-3FFB-42F9-B60C2CC50B6921C6


Please remember, nothing substitutes at least a consultation with a
family law specialist - without one, you could be taken to the
cleaners, so to speak.


Search terms -

* California law: equitable division of property
* California law: community property division


Hope this helps,

Serenata
Google Answers Researcher

So, you sell it to a mate ... for next-to-nothing ...

By law if you are married without any provisions or exclusions
anything bought in the marriage is considdered shared property , so
you indeed owe her half of the value of the truck , however you do not
need to sell it , she only has the right to half of the value , since
you already sold you house and got the proceeds of that you could be
able to pay her from those proceeds

However depending on the state where the divorce takes place (and in
some instances even the county) it is up to the court to decide if an
asset is part of the ruling

For example there are rules in Florida and Georgia that say that if
division of an asset puts undue economic pressure on one of the
parties (eg selling a bussiness) another means of division needs to be
sought

I am by no means a lawyer and my simple advice to you would be to find
yourself a divorce lawyer who can explain to you all the finer points
(and as with everything in life , you get what you pay for)