Legal Question in Family Law in California
validity of a signed document
About 14 years ago, my step-dad bought an office using the money from refinancing the house that he and my mom bought together (hanf and half); however he asked my mom to sign a statement handwritten by him on a piece of paper stating, ''I forever give up my right to the office.''Since my mom just got into a car accident, he used the fear that the other party might sue her property for compensation. My mom signed, however there was no witness. He then bought the office with only his name on the title for office with the paper filed in the record. Since then he has consistently refused to put my mom back on. Worse, eventually he signed the title to one of his sons about 1.5 year ago. My question is that was the paper that my mom signed with no witness a legal binding document? Is there any legal grounding for my mom to persue to obtain her fair share of the office. Will getting divorce complicate matter further?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: validity of a signed document
It depends on how the court applies the facts to the following rules of law:
Title is presumed to belong to the person in whose name it is held. All property owned during a marriage is presumed to be community property regardless of whose name it is held. A transmutation consists of a written, signed agreement between spouses describing the property to be conveyed to the other spouse as separate property. A transfer of title from one spouse to the other is presumed to have been incurred by undue influence and is therefore presumtively avoidable. One spoouse owes to the other spouse a fiduciary obligation to preserve and protect the assets of the marriage. If community property is contributed to separate property of a spoouse, the community obtains an interest in that spouse's property. The statute of limitations for rescission of contract is 4 years. The statute of limitations for an action seeking recovery of possession of real property is 5 years. The statute of limitations to file an action based upon fraud or mistake is 3 years. A conveyance of property for less than market value made with the intent of defrauding another with an interest therein is avoidable.
As far as the procedure your mom may need to follow in order to assert her rights, she could file a civil lawsuit, a divorce, a partition action, or a legal separation action. I do not have enough information to advise which procedure would be most advantageous.
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