Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

There are many variations on how this is done. In some cases, you loan the down payment to the child and have them sign a note back to you. At death these notes equalize so you can give the child the note as part of their inheritance. In other cases, clients simply gift equal amounts to each child. Keep in mind that annual gifts in excess of $14,000 require a gift tax return. Others simply keep track and adjust in their estate planning documents. I would suggest that you contact an estate planning attorney and work thorugh the options in the context of completing your overall estate plan.