Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Can I buy a house after a Default judgement in a Divorce case

The law states that income earned after the date of separation. Property purchased with your separate income or money would be your separate property. However, property purchased with community property funds would be community property. The title insurer will require the ex-wife to sign a quit claim deed, to insure that she does not have an interest in the property.

Re: Can I buy a house after a Default judgement in a Divorce case

The problem with default judgments is that they are fairly easy to set aside, especially in divorce cases. If there is any possibility your wife will claim an interest or right in any of the money you used to buy the house, then she very well could claim she has an interest in the house. It does not look like housing prices are going to go up for awhile, so you may want to wait. Generally it is easier to set aside a judgment within 6 months of the date it is entered, than it is to set it aside after 6 months. I am assuming that the divorce judgment has not been officially entered yet becaue the 6 month waiting period required has not expired. So you may want to wait until 6 months after the divorce judgement is entered before you buy a house. Also, on more narrow grounds, a divorce judgment can be set aside up to 2 years after it is entered, and in a few instances, even longer than that. But the general rule of thumb is that the longer your ex-wife waits to move to set aside the judgment, the less likely it is the court will grant her request.

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