Patricia and Bobby Star were married in New Mexico in July 2000. They had been living together since 1997. In July 2007, they separated. They had purchased a residence as joint tenants in April 1999. Bobby made the down payment from his separate funds. The mortgage payments were made out of commingled funds before and after marriage.

In August 2001, Patricia founded BioGene Corporation, a biotechnology firm, with $20,000 that she received as an inheritance from her grandmother. All of the stock of BioGene was issued in Patricia’s name, and Patricia worked full-time for BioGene. Bobby retained his job with another employer and was not involved in the operations of BioGene. Due to limited financial resources, Patricia did not draw a salary from BioGene until August 2007. In September 2007, BioGene’s first product was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Shortly thereafter, Patricia sold all of her BioGene stock to a large pharmaceutical concern for $30 million. Two days after the sale of the stock, Patricia filed for dissolution of the marriage.

Is the residence that Patricia and Bobby acquired community property or property held in joint tenancy? Would it matter if after marriage they had written a document stating that they wanted to hold the property as community property? In joint tenancy? Does Bobby have any interest in the proceeds from the sale of the BioGene stock?