Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This may sound like a simple question, but it is not. First off it depends on how title is held to the home. You would have to look at the deed. The exact language identifying the grantee will set the initial presumption as to whether it is community or separate property. If the initial presumption is that it is his separate property, or if he contests a presumption that it is community property, then the next step is to examine the nature of the settlement - what damages/losses arising out of his son's death was the settlement designed to compensate him for. Unlike damages for direct personal injury which are community property when paid for lost wages and the medical and other expenses of the injury, and separate property to the extent they pay for pain and suffering, wrongful death settlements can be compensation for a wide array of personal and financial loss, much, but not all of which are considered personal property. And then, if that is not complex enough, you have to look at how ownership of the house was paid for after it was purchased. Was a loan every taken out on it? How was it repaid? Were any improvements made to it? With what funds? While those factors would not give you an ownership interest in the value of the house, they could create an obligation to reimburse the community for some of those expenses.