Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: mother-in-law demands i sign a quitclaim deed

You do not have to sign anything. If you do, it could affect your right, even if not filed.

Re: mother-in-law demands i sign a quitclaim deed

First of all, my answer only applies if I understand the problem correctly, which is as follows: A week ago you married a man who already owns a home in cotenancy with his mother. He has made the payments. She wants you to execute a quitclaim deed. Your husband already has a son. Your mother-in-law wants you to quitclaim to your husband's son. Is this correct?

If so, the following additional questions arise: (1) Do your husband and mother-in-law own the house as joint tenants or as tenants in common? (2) How did the two of them come into ownership, and which of them made the down payment? (3) Who is the parent of your husband's son, and is a prior marriage and divorce involved? If so, was this house involved in a marital (property) settlement or order? (4) Who has lived in the house since it came into this family, and who lives in it now? (5) Who will make the payments in the future? (6) What is your mother-in-law's age and health?

The questions could go on and on..........

It is dangerous to answer a question of this importance with so much information missing. In any event, you should start out realizing that you do not now have any interest in the house whatsoever--the marriage does not make you a co-owner or give you any rights, so the mere act of quitclaiming PROBABLY does not have any real legal significance. By quitclaiming, you are releasing your ownership interest in the property, if any, at the time of the quitclaim.

Unless the quitclaim has some unusual language releasing possible future community-property interests you might acquire (see item #5, above), the quitclaim could be meaningless.

It is not uunusual for married couples and/or their family members, lenders, etc. to use quitclaim deeds to keep credit, inheritance, etc. matters straight within a marriage. However, in addition to the 'good' uses, there is an occasional fraud or near-fraud perpetrated.

Therefore, my advice to you is to seek local, professional assistance. You not only have a legal problem (which may not be all that serious), you have a trust, friendship and understanding problem with the mother-in-law. Maybe there is a sympathetic and not-too-expensive family law attorney near you who could give you an hour or two of advice on the legal aspects of marriage, community property, quitclaim deeds, inheritance, co-tenancy of real estate and related matters.

Finally, you and your new husband may need to talk this situation over so you're on the same wavelength.

Re: mother-in-law demands i sign a quitclaim deed

You don't have a problem. Your husband does. It's his mother and she can't accept that he is now married.

Don't sign anything. Gently suggest to your husband that it is time he spoke to his mother and asked her to accept you as part of the family.

Ultimately, you have a stronger position. You can deny your mother-in-law access to her future grandchildren.

As for her interest in your home, you have no say in what happened before you married. Tell your husband that if your mother-in-law won't quitclaim the house to him, you would like him to sell this house and move to somewhere that can be just yours and his.

Re: mother-in-law demands i sign a quitclaim deed

You do not have to sign anything; however, if his mother is a co-owner (and if she is jointly on title with your husband, she IS a co-owner of record, regardless of who has been making payments), she can bring an action in court to partition her interest and your husband's interest and force the property to be sold, etc., and the proceeds divided up. Sounds like your husband needs to deal with this and either buy out his mother or let her buy him out. Now that he is married, his earnings are community property and if they are used to make payments on the property, you are entitled to a proportionate interest in it; if you sign the quit claim deed, you can be held to have given up that right.