Legal Question in Family Law in California

I agree. 23 years is a long time. The property's character has changed unless you signed some sort of quit claim deed or agreed to this property being separate property.

Time does not extinquish the separate property claim your husband has in the present house. Without a thorough evaluation of the facts and transactions, I cannot tell if there is a cast to be made that his equity in the first house became a gift to the community when the second house was bought. Assuming it was not, then he will be entitled to some amount of buy-out if you keep the house. That buy-out does not, however, have to be cash in all cases. For example he can be given a larger share of retirement or investment accounts. Also, while you were married, the community acquired a reimbursement right in some (but definitely not all) the money spend on his house before it was sold. That would be set-off against his separate property interest.

The resolution of the marital interest and his potential separate property interest is a complex issue that cannot be properly answered over the internet. During the past 23 years the law regarding the transmutation of separate property to community property have changed significantly. You should immediately retain an attorney to assist you with this matter.