Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Married but want spouse's name to be off the deed because maybe getting a divorc

You need to look at your deed to the house, and see how title is vested (written) on the deed. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that you took title to your house together with your spouse (either as community property, joint tenants with right of survivorship, or tenants in common), you cannot unilaterally remove your spouse's name. Rather, you will have to decide who is going to get the property as part of the overall division of assets as part of the divorce. I suggest you consult a family law attorney as soon as possible with this question. You might also want to post this on the family law portion of this bulletin board.

Re: Married but want spouse's name to be off the deed because maybe getting a di

One useful fact you didn't mention is how you took title to the house. Probably most married couples take title as community property. There is a recent variation on that theme, "community property with right of survivorship" which tends to combine the attributes of community property and joint tenancy. Joint tenancy is sometimes used as well. The details, but not the main theme, of my answer might be somewhat different if this isn't community property.

Your right to remove your spouse's name from the deed is exactly the same as his or her right to remove yours from the deed, Essentially, the right does not exist. There may be exceptions, but they would be rare.

Changing ownership within a marriage is called "transmutation." Transmutation of property from separate property to community property, or from community property to separate property, has been the subject of loads of litigation and many California appellate court decisions, as well as legislation.

The current state of the law is as follows: (1) transmutations must be in writing, and must reflect a conscious desire to change the ownership character of property; and (2) spouses are required to deal with one another with the utmost candor, openness, honesty and good faith.

So, unless your spouse for some strange reason really WANTS to surrender her interest, i.e. because you are paying her full value, this probably ain't gonna happen.

As I say, there are exceptions to all these rules which rarely, but sometimes, come into play. If you think you're entitled, for some reason, to full ownership of property that you don't appear to own fully, see a local divorce or real estate lawyer.