Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Not really. If it was your home before marriage, it is still your separate property unless you add your spouse. The deed can be changed later if needed, such as when you sell or refinance.

First, to be technically clear and correct, we don't change deeds, Deeds are-single-use instruments used to change ownership, means of holding, the name on title, etc. What you would be doing is changing title, and you would do that by executing, notarizing and recording a new deed. Think of a deed as the "means" and the title as the "end."

Now, to your question. Most people don't bother to update recorded title when they marry. If and when they do, it's usually because there is a change of ownership, as when a couple decide to share ownership of previously separate property, or when they set up living trusts and convey title to their trust, or perhaps because a lender providing a refi wants title updated.

There is even a provision in the Civil Code that anticipates title not being updated, and years later the person, now with a different name, wanting to sell. It merely tells the seller also to refer to the way she (or he) took title in the first place, in the deed when she (or he) sells. Civil Code section 1096.