Legal Question in Family Law in California
Ownership of house prior to marriage
I purchased a house as a single woman prior to marriage. I kept it in my name only for 5 years into the marriage. Three years ago, I refinanced for a lower interest rate and put spouse's name on refinance documents. Did I lose my seperate property status when his name was placed on documents for refinance? In otherwords, will I be forced to sell the house and give spouse half of the profit? He makes far less money than I do and did not initially purchase the house.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Ownership of house prior to marriage
If you transferred the house to joint names then the house is community property but you would have the right to reimbursement of your equity at the time of the transfer. That is the general rule, there are some exceptions. Example, if you had $100,000 equity at the time of the transfer and currently have $150,000 equity, the community would have $50,000 in interest, so you each have $25,000 interest. If the house did not appreciate the community would have no dollar value interest. You will need an attorney to work this one through in all probability. Good Luck, Pat McCrary
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