Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Quick claim deed

First, the term is not "quick claim." It is "quitclaim." One word, no k.

A quitclaim deed from your ex-husband to you should show his name as the person surrendering his interest, and your current name as the person to whom it is surrendered. (The usual words are "grantor" and "grantee" respectively, but it a technical sense one does not really "grant" anything when the deed used is a quitclaim.)

This does not affect any interest you acquired, of record, at an earlier time while using your married name. The result may be that you end up owning 1/2 under your married name and 1/2 under your maiden name.

There is no problem in letting things come to rest that way for the time being. In the future, if you want to sell the whole timeshare, you can do this by giving the buyer a deed that simply recites that you acquired half of your now-100% interest under the name of (insert married name).

I would also run all of this by the timeshare management before doing it, to make sure the ownership change does not violate any silly rule of theirs, and that they are aware of who the owner is and her address, etc.

If you want to do a formal name change in California, the first question is whether you have an Alaska or California divorce, or perhaps somewhere else. Many states allow a wife to take back her maiden name as an integral part of the divorce proceeding. Regardless of your current legal name or how you got it, California and most other states require someone who is disposing of real property they acquired under a former name to disclose that former name on the deed by which they ultimately dispose of it. The purpose of this is to keep the chain of title clear and understandable on the public records.

Re: Quick claim deed

Oh, I forgot to answer the second part of your question. California requires 8-1/2 x 11 paper, with minimum 1/2' margins all around. They also prefer the upper 3" to be blank on the right corner for the recorder's stamp, and the address of the person to whom the recorded document should be mailed goes in the upper left corner.

I recommend going on line and looking at sample California deeds, especially quitclaims, to see how they are formatted and worded. It is especially important that anything presented for recording be LEGIBLE, including the notary's seal. A high proportion of amateur-prepared deeds are refused recordation due to legibility problems.