Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Wife,s Obligations

Community property rules mean she is responsible for the debt, as is your estate. You need to talk to a wills and trusts attorney to see if she can be protected in some way.

Re: Wife,s Obligations

Girst of all, if you die, your estate is primarily responsible for the debt. The house would be sold through probate (assuming you don't have a trust) and the lender would be paid and then the credit cards would be paid. Whether your wife would have any responsibility on the credit cards would depend on whether purchases were made that benefited both of you (food, clothing, etc.)

Re: Wife,s Obligations

Then you must outlive your wife. Seriously, it depends on how title is held, with whose funds the house was purchased, whose funds were used to improve the real property, etc. You might want to post your message with a few more of these specifics for a family lawyer on LawGuru. If purchased with funds derived from work while you're married, the house probably is community property.