Cal. Family Code § 853 : California Family Code — Rights And Obligations During Marriage — Transmutation Of Property — Statement in will of character of property; waiver of right to joint or survivor annuity or survivor's benefits; written joinder or consent to nonprobate property transfer of community property Date: 7 Sep 2016 TEXT PDF Current through the 2016 Legislative Session (a) A statement in a will of the character of property is not admissible as evidence of a transmutation of the property in a proceeding commenced before the death of the person who made the will. (b) A waiver of a right to a joint and survivor annuity or survivor's benefits under the federal Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-397) is not a transmutation of the community property rights of the person executing the waiver. (c) A written joinder or written consent to a nonprobate transfer of community property on death that satisfies Section 852 is a transmutation and is governed by the law applicable to transmutations and not by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5010) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Probate Code. Ca. Fam. Code § 853