Irvine, CA (PRWEB) May 01, 2014
Sooner or later the vast majority of divorcing couples come to an agreement on how to divide property of the marriage. Mark W. Bidwell, a licensed California attorney, explains how to transfer ownership of real property and the consequences of the division of assets.
First, an agreement is just an agreement. Until a judge signs off on the agreement and issues a final order, the community property and debts still belong to both parties. Only after judgment for dissolution of marriage or an order has been entered by the court can assets of the marriage be divided.
This delay can be a problem for real property held in joint tenancy and a spouse dies before the final judgment or order. In joint tenancy the deceased spouse’s ownership disappears. The surviving spouse becomes the sole owner. To avoid this windfall to the surviving spouse the joint tenancy is severed. The joint tenancy is severed to tenants-in-common.
On death of a tenant-in-common owner, his or her one-half share of the community property is transferred as directed in a Will. There must be a Will, or the laws of intestacy apply. Intest acy law state s if there is no Will the default is to transfer community property to the surviving spouse, thus defeating the purpose of a tenant-in-common ownership.
Another potential problem with agreements is the assumption of the debt. A couple may agree on the division of real property and they may agree that whoever receives the property is responsible for the debt on the real property. But this agreement has no effect on the lender. The lender is not a party to the marital agreement. Until the loan is paid off or refinanced the non-owning spouse is still responsible for the loan.
The good news is asset transfers in a divorce are tax free. Transfers of real property do not incur capital gains or income tax at the federal level. In California, Hawaii, Florida and most other states there is no income tax, or capital gains tax on transfers between spouses. Most states do not charge a transfer tax. In California the property tax basis remains the same on spousal transfers and as a result there is no increase in property taxes due to the divorce.
To transfer ownership or change how title is held a deed must be prepared and recorded with the State agency responsible for maintaining official records. This deed is often referred to as an inter-spousal deed. A deed is an 8 ½ inch by 11 inch paper.
Prior to judgment or court order the deed changes ownership from oneself as joint tenant to oneself as tenant-in-common. After a court order the deed changes ownership from both spouses to one spouse. This removes one spouse as an owner.
How deeds are recorded and made part of the public record varies from state to state. In California and other Western states records are maintained by county at the “recorders” office. In Hawaii records are maintained by the Bureau of Conveyances. In Florida and other Southern states records are maintained by each county’s clerk of the court.
Website, http://www.deedandrecord.com prepares deeds and records them for transfers due to divorce. Company prepares documents required by the state and county to keep the transfer free of tax. Company specializes in the transfer of timeshares located in California, Hawaii and Florida.
For more information on timeshares please go to http://deedandrecord.com/timeshares
This press release is provided by Mark W. Bidwell. Mr. Bidwell markets through websites such as deedandrecord.com. Address is 18831 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92612. Phone number is 949-474-0961.
To contact the author of this press release; Mark W. Bidwell at Mark@DeedandRecord.com.