A home you owned before marriage stays in your name
Getting married doesn’t change the deed. If you bought the home on your own, it stays in your name alone until a new deed is recorded. Couples add each other so they own the home together, to refinance in both names, or to make things simpler if something happens to one of them.
How the title can read
You decide how the two of you will hold title. Common choices in California are community property with right of survivorship, community property, and joint tenancy. Each one works differently for taxes and for what happens when one of you dies. We prepare the deed the way you direct; if you aren’t sure which fits, a tax professional or attorney can help you choose.
What we need from you
The property address, your spouse’s full legal name, and how you want the title to read. We pull the current deed and legal description and handle the county forms.
Taxes and your loan
Adding a spouse is generally excluded from property tax reassessment (Revenue and Taxation Code §63), and no transfer tax is due when no money changes hands. Federal law generally keeps a lender from calling a loan due when a spouse is added to title, but it’s still smart to tell your lender. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
How it works
- Buy and tell us who and where. Checkout takes about a minute. We need the property address and how the new title should read.
- We research and prepare. We pull the current deed and legal description, then prepare your document and the county forms.
- Notarize, and we record. Sign in front of a notary (free at our Redding, Roseville, or Sacramento office, or at most banks), upload it, and we e-record it with your county. The recorded copy comes back by email.