---
type: "Bill"
title: "Dissolution of marriage: date of separation."
description: "Existing law regulates the characterization and division of property upon the dissolution of marriage or the legal separation of the parties. Under existing law, debt incurred by a spouse after the date of separation is generally confirmed to that spouse. Existing law similarly provides that the earnings of a spouse are separate property if the spouse is living separate and apart from the other spouse."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 1255"
citation: "California SB 1255 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Dissolution of marriage: date of separation."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Moorlach"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 18
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2016-02-18"
last_action: "2016-07-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/98ff4d12-68dc-4e3c-bb59-2af658397731"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255"
source_hash: "46585b9724b56e03f033a9cd475487c01c9f1c51cc98f737b8d51ba384839935"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 1255 (20152016) — Dissolution of marriage: date of separation.

Existing law regulates the characterization and division of property upon the dissolution of marriage or the legal separation of the parties. Under existing law, debt incurred by a spouse after the date of separation is generally confirmed to that spouse. Existing law similarly provides that the earnings of a spouse are separate property if the spouse is living separate and apart from the other spouse.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/18/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255&version=20150SB125599INT)
2. **05/05/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255&version=20150SB125598AMD)
3. **06/01/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255&version=20150SB125597AMD)
4. **07/25/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255&version=20150SB125595CHP)
5. **SB1255** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255)
6. **07/05/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1255&version=20150SB125596ENR)

## Votes

- Unfinished Business SB1255 Moorlach Concurrence — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 1255 Moorlach Senate Third Reading By WILK — **66–4** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **7–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Moorlach — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2016-02-19** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 20.
- **2016-03-03** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-21** Set for hearing May 3.
- **2016-05-04** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 3766.) (May 3). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-05-05** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 35. Noes 0. Page 3809.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-10** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2016-05-16** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-09** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (June 8). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-06-27** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 66. Noes 4. Page 5516.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-27** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2016-06-30** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 4638.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-07-13** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2016-07-25** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-07-25** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 114, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/98ff4d12-68dc-4e3c-bb59-2af658397731`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).