Legal Question in Business Law in California

An oral contract is enforceable. If it concerns land, it may need to be in writing to satisfy the Statute of Frauds, however partial performance of the contract may take the contract out of the ruling of written necessiry required by the Statute of Frauds.

You may need to hire an attorney to understand what I just wrote to you.

Verbal agreements - lawyers call them oral agreements - are valid unless a specific law requires that the agreement be in writing, and even then, these laws requiring written, signed contracts are liberally construed in favor of making the parties' agreement enforceable. One of the most frequently-encountered requirements for a written agreement is when the deal involves the transfer of an interest in real property, or a lease thereof for over one year. Even then, when the transfer is from an individual to a partnership, the requirement of a writing may not arise.

So, your enforcement process may involve going to court, or at least threatening a lawsuit, to enforce the oral agreement. In addition to showing that a written agreement was unnecessary, your attorney would have to prove the existence, and the principal terms, of your alleged oral agreement. Proving the terms of an oral agreement is often the downfall of a plaintiff trying to enforce one. You'll have to depend on eyewitnesses, circumstantial evidence, and the like.

Your question is a little short on facts, such as the prior relationship between the parties, which might help to excuse informality and trust in creating the agreement. Also, it is not clear what your claim to the home you stand to lose is based upon -- did you own it?