Legal Question in Family Law in California

You would not be entitled to any interest in the house under any theory I can think of. You are either tenants at will or licensees, depending on the details of your arrangment with your mother in law, and how one wants to interpret the facts. Neither you nor your husband has any vested interest in the property. Theoretically your mother in law could sell it tomorrow, or she and your husband could have a falling out and she could evict you on 60-days notice, just as if you were rent paying tenants. Any way you look at it the best you have is a current right of occupancy. That has no value, and therefore would not be any kind of asset in a divorce. Once your mother in law passes away, it will depend on what her will says. If it is willed to your husband alone, you will also have no interest in the property, because inheritances are separate property. If, after inheriting it you put your joint funds into the house that increase its value (not simple maintenance or expenses), then there might be some rights created, but that is a long way and a lot of "ifs" down the road.