Transmutation

This is when a person’s sole and separate property becomes community property either by agreement of the spouses or by the owner spouse gifting it to the community. In essence, it is a change of the characterization of the property. As one commentator explained, it “is called ‘transmutation’ by lawyers because the synonym ‘change’ is not sophisticated enough.” Robert L. Mennell & Thomas K. Boykoff, Community Property, West Publishing Co.: St. Paul, Minn., 1982. See Bilateral Transmutation and Unilateral Transmutation; compare with Commingled.