Legal Question in Family Law in California

Actually, since you owned the house since prior to the marriage, she has no right to the rental value after separation. The house is your separate property, less 1/2 the buy in value of the time married relative to the buy down on principle alone during the marriage, over the buy down in principal in the times outside the marriage. As separate property, her rights only extend to he period during the marriage. You really should have a highly qualified family law attorney helping you with this. Good luck!

Mr. Schneider is not QUITE right. Your house is 100% separate property, subject to a community claim for reimbursement. The community is entitled to reimbursement without interest of whatever the community contributed to the value of the property during the marriage, so that includes pay-down of principal, but not interest payments, and includes improvements, such as an addition or remodel, but not maintenance. It gives her no ownership interest at all that would give rise to a claim for rent. In addition, even if the family home was community property, if the spouse who occupies the home prior to distribution of the community assets pays all the expenses of the home, there is a presumption that those expenses are equivalent to the rent owed the community, and therefore it zero's out. Either way she is entitled to nothing in the way of rent.