Legal Question in Family Law in California

Your boyfriend needs to consult with a Family Law attorney to obtain specific legal advice.

If the divorce has been filed and served, he would be guilty of contempt of court if he did ANYTHING with the house. Filing and serving a divorce puts the parties and alll their property under restraining orders that prohibit, among other things, selling or giving away any property. And even if that order weren't in place, he can only give his brother what he has. He can't give his brother her half (which actually may well be a whole lot less than half). So the most he would do is transfer from him and her owning their shares to his brother and her owning shares that would have to be sorted out just the same.

There is a continuing fiduciary management and control responsibity of any community property held by the spouses requiring full disclosure and that the spouses manage all property in the best interests of the community, hence trying to hide any interest in this asset is in violation of those family law directives.

Your boyfriend needs an attorney to review the issues surrounding the house and determine if it is a community property asset or a separate property asset. Once a determination has been made, an attorney can do their job and protect your boyfriends rights in the house as much as possible. Approach this stuff in the right way and don't try to take short cuts. The short cuts will only serve to make it cost more. If your boyfriend transfers the ownership of the house in an attempt to hide a community property assets he is playing with fire and more likely than not he will be the one that ends up getting burned. My office is in Cameron Park and I practice law in Sacramento all the time. I am very familiar with the family law court in Sacramento. Your boyfriend can contact my office through our web site and we will be happy to answer his questions. Our web site is at www.brianmcginitylaw.com . Good luck