Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

10% is enough, but only your 10% is protected, and there is no minimum period of prior residency. A homestead exemption is available to a judgment debtor regardless of whether the judgment debtor's interest is a fee, leasehold, or lesser interest. See Code of Civil Procedure section 704.820. Nevertheless, I should warn you that shuffling assets around on the eve of someone getting a judgment against you or otherwise becoming a substantial creditor may result in fraudulent transfers which will be set aside by a court if they had the purpose or effect of hindering, delaying or defrauding a creditor or prospective creditor unless the transferor had plenty of other assets and/or got a fair price for the transferred property.