When a spouse pays off student loans for education attained before the marriage with funds from salary earned during the marriage, then the court has to grant reimbursement to the community; meaning that the spouse has to reimburse the other for one half of what he/she paid off during the marriage according to the following case:  In re Marriage of Mullonkal & Kodiyamplakkil, 51 Cal. App. 5th 604, 265 Cal. Rptr. 3d 285 (2020).

That is right.  If court is deciding your case and even if your spouse did not work at all and you have been the bread-winner paying all the living expenses and you made payments during your marriage to pay off your student loan debts, your spouse can ask for half of all that you paid back.