Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Can Judgement Collectors Seize Wife's House?

Probably. You have two things to worry about. The first is that if the debt you may be sued upon was incurred to provide 'necessaries of life', the separate property of either spouse may be liable (Family Code sections 913 and 914).

The greater problem is that giving property to a relative when threatening lawsuits appear on the horizon is a fraud on the creditor(s), even if the claim is not yet reduced to judgment at the time of the transfer. The principle also applies to transfers to anyone, for a below-market price, not just to giving property to relatives, but it is much easier to detect and prove if it is a gift to a spouse. If you are still living in the house, the fraudulent nature of the purported transferwill be all the more obvious to a judge. The applicable law is the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, found at Civil Code sections 3439 through 3439.12.

The creditors' remedies include voiding the transfer, attachment of the transferred property, injunction and money damages.

Re: Can Judgement Collectors Seize Wife's House?

my learned collegue mr. whipple really knows his stuff and i appreciate his answers as i many times agree with him as i do in this case. my answer is more of a question as i am specialized in both real estate law and estate planning and have been for over 30 years --- why would you do such a naive thing, did you get any leagal advise and from whom, this given your question after the barn door has been opened as wide as possible may have substantial tax, estate planning and other detrimental effects upon you now and for many years to come -- depending upon who you may owe money to, how much and for what is integral to your situation and by gifting the house to your wife may have exaserbated the situation for you