Aimee D. Bagur v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Barbara M. Hansen v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

In the Louisiana community property system a wife has a present, vested, undivided one-half ownership of the property acquired during the marriage, including her husband’s earnings.1 The system is based on the concept of the family as a viable unit, the husband exercising his managerial control as “head and master”2 in the best interests of the matrimonial partnership. *494The principle of equal ownership of the community served the Louisiana wife well — as long as the family was a viable unit and as long as the husband managed the community in good faith. It has been…