Legal Question in Family Law in California

No, but her share of any community property the two of you accumulate could be subject to attachment to satisfy the debt. There are a lot of barriers to mortgage holders collecting deficiencies, however, and at a minimum they would have to waive the right to foreclose by the trustee's sale method, sue her and her ex for the debt, have the court in the suit sell the property, establish a deficiency, obtain a judgment, and then start looking for assets. Except in the case of fraud, I know of no commercial lender that is going to all that trouble rather than just holding a trustee's sale and taking the property to turn around and sell on the market. Once they do that, it is completely illegal for them to try to recover any balance. So I'd be more worried about what it would do to your credit as a couple than about the lender actually coming after her for the debt.

I agree with Mr. McCormick. The only lenders that I have seen pursuing judgments are frozen out junior lienholders, who held a second deed of trust. They are referring those to collections after the first deed of trust forecloses. If you don't meet that category, you don't have much to worry about.