Yes. With a properly drafted “Transmutation Agreement” or “Post Marital Agreement” (also often called a Post Nuptial Agreement), what was formerly community property or your separate property can be changed to the separate property of your spouse and will not be subject to seizure to satisfy your debts.
Yes. California is a community property, state, which means that, absent a written agreement otherwise, all wealth created during the marriage is considered to be 100% owned by each of you, and is subject to levy (seizure) for the debts of either one of you.
No. There is no absolutely sure way protect your assets from credtors. However, with the right planning, you can make it so hard for creditors to collect from your assets that they will not want to incur the expense and time involved to pursue their claim against you. Despite this fact, many people think they are protected by simply placing valuable assets in the name of thier spouse. Without expert help, and the right agreements, simply transferring title of a valuable asset to your spouse does not work.
No. However, by notarizing the signatures may avoid later claims that the signature of one spouse is a forgery. If the transfer involves an asset of substantial value, requiring notarized signatures is advisable.
Simply deeding property or changing the documents of title on stock or other assets may not change ownership rights in California between married persons. The legislature and the courts have set out complicated rules that must be followed to change how title is held after a transaction between spouses. For example, simply changing the ownership of stock from one party to the other without some statement of intent has been held to be inadequate to transmute the stock from one party to the other. Likewise, a quit claim deed, without more, may be ambiguous about the intent of the parties.
Although the California Supreme Court has stated that particular words are not required, in fact, many writings that most people would consider adequate have been held to be inadequate. For that reason, it is important that in any transaction involving married persons that a Certified Specialist in Family Law draft the agreement.
