In Re Marriage of Holtemann

Opinion

PERREN, J.

In In re Marriage of Starkman (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 659 [28 Cal.Rptr.3d 639], we concluded that merely characterizing separate property transferred to a trust established pursuant to an estate plan as “community property” is insufficient to effectuate a transmutation of the property in the absence of “ ‘language which expressly states that the characterization or ownership of the property is being changed.’ ” (Id., at p. 664, quoting Estate of MacDonald (1990) 51 Cal.3d 262, 272 [272 Cal.Rptr. 153, 794 P.2d 911].) Here we are presented with such a clear expression, in the…