Community Property—Washington Allows Separate Tort Recovery from Community Property—deElche v. Jacobsen, 95 Wn. 2d 237, 622 P.2d 835 (1980)

Authors

Elizabeth Jane Blagg

Abstract

With the deElche decision, Washington joined the majority of community property states, but did not address several important questions, which will be the subject of this note. This note begins by reviewing prior case law and the structure of community property ownership in general. An analysis of the majority and dissenting opinions in deElche follows. The majority's reasoning and the impact of the decision will then be analyzed. The note concludes that the deElche holding is basically sound, but that the lack of clarity in the opinion leaves several community property questions unsettled.

First Page

211

Recommended Citation

Elizabeth J. Blagg, Recent Developments, Community Property—Washington Allows Separate Tort Recovery from Community Property—deElche v. Jacobsen, 95 Wn. 2d 237, 622 P.2d 835 (1980), 57 Wash. L. Rev. 211 (1981).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol57/iss1/9