If I get a legal separation or a divorce now (before I obtain the money) will I avoid a 50/50 split of community property?

In California, community property does not include those things given to you alone (not things left to both of you) by gift or bequest/inheritance, so long as you do NOT co-mingle those funds with community funds (in a community bank account or a bank account with community funds in it) or do anything else which would be evidence that you meant for the funds to become community in nature. Therefore, so long as you keep everything separate, it will be yours. It sounds as if you will need those funds to obtain your own residence and save toward retirement, so consider those things before promising it to your children. Additionally, you will want to make all of this legal sooner, rather than later, as it will only get more complicated as time goes on and as you acquire things with that money or earn interest on that money. Also, the longer you are married, the longer you must pay Spousal Support if you earn more money than your wife.

An inheritance is the separate property of the person who receives it, not the community property of the spouses. If you do not commingle the funds with community assets then you should have no trouble in retaining full control of the inherited funds. You should consult a probate attorney to review all of the facts if you have any questions about how best to handle this inheritance.

In California all inheritance is considered to be the recipient's separate property. It is not subject to division in a divorce or legal separation. Good luck.