I am of the belief that so long as the taxpayer and spouse agree, express or implied, oral or written (per Calhoun vs Commissioner), that unemployment from community property will be treated as separate property, we'd have a strong argument in defending that position due to the UI exclusion this year which can not be split.  CA SDI, SE Tax, Social Security Wages are never split.  So it would make sense that the UI exclusion can not be split and that the unemployment income received in this case, also not be split.  Married filing separately in itself is very difficult for anyone to fully comprehend and in truth, how many taxpayer do you know that NEVER follow the community property rules and are never called on it?