Code of Hammurabi The practice of divorce has its origins in ancient times. The earliest divorce legislation appears in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the oldest set of laws in world history, which dates from approximately 1760 BCE. Under the Code a man initiating a divorce had to return her bridal dowry to his wife, including any money, land or goods, unless she had committed adultery. Not all of the Code was so enlightened. If a woman was considered to have brought her husband into ill-repute then it was within his rights to have her drowned. Ancient... 

The only statute which is directly relevant to date of separation does not concern the date of separation as the main thrust of the statute. Family Code §771 states: “The earnings and accumulations of a spouse and the minor children living with, or in the custody of the spouse while living separate and apart from the other spouse, are the separate property of the spouse”. However, there are three California cases, two major, which provide important law and useful factual analyses on determination of date of separation. Those cases are In Re Marriage...