Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Inherrited House question

No creditor, not even child support with its long reach and strong policy backing its enforcement, can take other peoples' (non-debtors') property.

What will happen is they will place a lien on his 1/3 interest, and maybe even foreclose on that interest, in which case the buyer in foreclosure will become the other brothers' 1/3 co-owner. Then, that person can and probably will bring a suit to partition the property. When partitioned, the property will be sold and the net proceeds, after costs of sale, taxes, and repayment of loans (if any), will be paid to the owners, including the foreclosure buyer and the other two brothers.

At some stage of this process, probably at the foreclosure of his 1/3 interest, your boyfriend would

get cash equivalent to the difference between what he owes and what the foreclosure of the 1/3 interest brings, if the sale produces a surplus.

Some other scenarios are possible, but the general theme is the same for each: the brothers will not lose any money to the creditor, but they could have nuisance and legal expense arising out of the creditor's lien and execution on the lien; the house may have to be sold, but the non-debtor brothers will get cashed out.

The basic rule is that a creditor's lien attaches only to the interest of the debtor in the property, and not to the interest in the same property of the co-owners.