Legal Question in Family Law in California

It depends on how you fund the purchase. If you put no community property into the purchase, and pay any debt exculsively with post-separation income, he would have no interest. If you need to put some of your share of the community property into the purchase, you can agree to a preliminary partial distribution of your community property, and have him sign a quitclaim deed to the Tennesse property, or whatever the equivalent is in TN. You don't say whether you have a divorce on file yet or not, but if you need to use community property, I recommend you have a divorce on file first and do a stipulated order, rather than trying to craft an agreement that will then stand up in a later divorce. You could do it before having a divorce on file, but having the court's blessing before you complete the deal is much safer.

I agree with Mr. McCormick, but to be sure you should consult with an attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee. A divorce in California would treat the property as quasi-community property, unless you purchased the property during separation, with separate property funds, and kept title as your separate property.

While you should consult with an attorney in Tennessee, I believe that you would have to have your husband sign a quitclaim deed simultaneously to your purchase. This would allow you to have that property as your separate property. That being said, you would not want to thereafter pay any of the payments with community funds.

BARRY BESSER

www.besserlaw.com