Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: buying a house after seperation in california

I'm not sure exactly what's going on in your situation, but the facts you mention suggest situations I've encountered where an about-to-be ex-husband is moving in with a new girlfriend or buying a new place with the aforesaid girlfriend.

The risks for someone in such a situation revolve around whether you are wheeling and dealing with community assets or your separate property. When the divorce is ready to go final, with a property settlement in place, you will have to make final disclosures, and your new note and deed of trust will have to be disclosed.

Avoiding disclosure is not an option, since stuff like this is on the public record.

If the money you're investing is truly your separate property (and it should be declared as such in the note and deed of trust), or if you have lots of other assets so giving 50% of the community property to your ex-wife won't be a problem, I'd say go ahead and do your "investment" deal. After separation and filing of a petition for dissolution of marriage, your fiduciary duties to one another are greatly diminished, if not totally ended.

However, you do have a duty to have disclosed such deals as part of settling up your marital property to get your final decree, and your soon-to-be ex would have a claim on any property (such as a note secured by a deed of trust) that was not part of the final equation in divvying up the community property due to your failure to disclose it and to give up 50% of the community assets.