IDAHO BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Idaho Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. COMMUNITY PROPERTY (THE CORE DISTINCTION)
· Idaho is a COMMUNITY PROPERTY state · Property acquired during marriage = presumed community, owned 50/50 (§ 32-906) · Separate property: owned before marriage + acquired by gift/inheritance · SIGNATURE IDAHO RULE: income, rents, issues & profits from separate property are COMMUNITY unless a written agreement keeps them separate (Texas/Idaho minority — opposite of CA/WA) · Quasi-community property recognized at divorce & death · Both spouses must join to convey/encumber community REAL property or a community business · At death, decedent devises only their 1/2 of the community + all separate; survivor owns the other half — no elective share against community · Commingled funds: trace separate property to keep it separate, else the community presumption wins; community gets reimbursement when its funds/labor enhance a separate asset · Management: equal control, either spouse may act alone for most transactions, EXCEPT both must join to convey community real property or a community business interest · Community property is liable for community debts (and many separate/premarital debts); a spouse's separate property answers mainly for that spouse's separate debts.
2. EXAM FORMAT
· UBE jurisdiction — portable score · Standard weighting MBE 50 / MEE 30 / MPT 20 · Legacy cut 270; early NextGen adopter (new 500–750 scale) — verify current cut · Mandatory new-lawyer CLE on ethics, civ/crim procedure, and community property · UBE never tests Idaho-specific law — write essays as general multistate law.
3. CIVIL PROCEDURE
· I.R.C.P. mirror federal rules · SOL: personal injury 2 yrs; written contracts 5 yrs; oral contracts 4 yrs; property damage 3 yrs; fraud 3 yrs.
4. EVIDENCE
· Idaho Rules of Evidence track the FRE (thin) · Codified physician-patient privilege (I.R.E. 503).
5. FAMILY LAW
· No-fault + fault grounds · Community divided substantially equally at divorce (§ 32-712) absent compelling reason; separate property confirmed to owner · UPAA adopted — premarital agreement is the tool to opt out of community regime / keep separate-income separate.
6. WILLS / ESTATES
· UPC jurisdiction with community-property overlay · Decedent devises only 1/2 community + all separate · Holographic wills recognized · Quasi-community property in succession.
7. REAL PROPERTY
· Race-notice recording · Adverse possession = 20 yrs PLUS payment of all taxes (strict) · Statutory homestead exemption · Nonjudicial deed-of-trust foreclosure (trustee's power of sale, §§ 45-1502 et seq.) — faster, cuts off redemption · Community real estate needs both spouses' signatures (one-spouse conveyance voidable).
8. TORTS
· Modified comparative negligence — 50% BAR (barred when plaintiff's fault is "as great as" defendant's, i.e., at 50%) — stricter than the 51% states · Joint & several liability largely ABOLISHED — several only · Noneconomic damages cap (inflation-adjusted, § 6-1603), exceptions for reckless/felonious conduct · Dram Shop Act (§§ 23-808 et seq.) with a short claim-notice trap.
9. CONTRACTS / UCC / ENTITIES
· UCC uniform; written-contract SOL 5 yrs, UCC sales 4 yrs · Entities follow MBCA/uniform acts —