Gratituous Transfers of Community Property to Third Persons

The Matrimonial Property Act of 1967 promulgated significant changes in the managerial powers delegated to the spouses over community property. These changes were carried forward in Chapters 4 and 5 of the Family Code, effective January 1, 1970. In view of these statutory changes affecting gratuitous transfers of community property, and in light of important case law developments in the area during the last decade, a new look at the power of each spouse to dispose gratuitously of the common property to third persons is in order.