Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Property

You raise a lot of issues in your question. It is very important how you take title to the property and how you structured your agreement with the cosigner, as you may inadvertently be having the cosigner automatically take title in the event of your death. Because California real estate is so expensive, you should have a real estate attorney review your documents to make sure the way the title and agreement are structured reflects the intentions of all the parties.

You also might think about taking out a term life insurance policy in the amount of the cosigner's loan. If you are relatively young, these poliices are very inexpensive and would pay off the debt in the event something happened to you, thus protecting your wife from the cosigner by providing her with the means to pay off the cosigner and get him/her off the title.

I would be happy to give you a free 20 minute consult to review the documents you have and make sure everything is done correctly. If it isnt, I have an hourly charge for fixing whatever needs fixing, and could give you a good estimate of what it will cost to make sure everything is the way you intended.