Legal Question in Family Law in California

As registered domestic partners, you are subject to the same laws as married couples when it comes to ending the relationship. So the first step is to file for dissolution of the domestic partnership. Then in that proceeding the assets and debts will have to be divided. If you don't want the house, your partner will have the option of buying you out (for $0 if you wish) or the house will be sold and the proceeds divided. If your partner buys you out, they will be ordered to refinance any debt, so that you are no longer liable. If they cannot qualify to refinance, the house can be sold.

Kerman,

I'm very sorry that you are having to undergo this difficult situation and I'm sure you have more than just this one question, but I will give it my best shot to at least clarify this one area of confusion.

You state that you are domestic partners, so I am going to base my answer off the assumption that you are registered domestic partners. What you will need to do is file a Petition for dissolution of domestic partnership, which is very similar to a Petition for divorce. You can look up the forms online at courtinfo.ca.gov. Like in a divorce, there will be several areas that need to be resolved, including assets (everything you own, from the pots and pans to the house to your vehicles), debts (everything you owe, from credit cards to student loans to personal loans), and partner support.

Your question obvious deals with the asset area, specifically, division of the house. There are typically four ways to resolve this issue: 1) The house is sold and the proceeds equally divided, subject to any separate property contributions (if someone put down $10,000 of his separate money before you entered into your partnership, he would be entitled to reimbursement off the top of the equity); 2) You refinance, taking his name off the loan and then he signs the house over to you. In refinancing, you will either have to draw out his portion of the house to reimburse him or else find some other method of giving him his share; 3) He refinances, and takes the same steps that you do in option #2. Now, in this economy, people are tending to be a little more creative and seeking a fourth option: keeping the house in joint title/loan for X number of years and agreeing to sell it at a specified date in the future, equally splitting the equity. While this may sound like a great solution, there are a LOT of potential problems that need to be discussed (examples include who is going to pick the realtor, will the house be sold as-is, who is responsible for the mortgage in the meantime, etc.). I absolutely advocate this method if there isn't a lot of equity in the house and you're losing money, but it is something that you'll need to discuss very carefully before agreeing to it.

I will go beyond the scope of your question and advise you to consult with a family law attorney. Domestic partnerships are fairly new in California (well under 10 years), and the law can be very, very tricky because you have not only state law, but you have federal law to deal with, and federal law does not recognize domestic partnerships. This creates many tricky issues with regards to taxes, especially if your partner asks for support (which he may be legally entitled to).

Best of luck to you!

I would recommend both filing for dissolution of domestic partnership and a partition action of the property. This office can prepare the forms for you or provide full representation so as to make out services affordable to you. Contact me directly.