Regarding buying me out

Doing the math..yes 50% of the equity if that is what you both agree to. From a legal stand point may not be that easy. I cannot provide legal advice though I do not believe you can force him to sell. I would recommend you seek out legal advice. Good luck.

Be careful here. Mathematically, there is $400,000 in equity, so getting half of that would be the $200,000 you are talking about. California is a Community Property State. This means that half of everything the two of you acquired during the marriage is owned together. Community property also means that income you each earned during the marriage belongs to both of you. Could you force him to sell? Probably not. However many times a divorce agreement that is approved by a judge sets a time period to allow the spouse that wants to keep the home, to refinance the current loan into their own name and provide the agreed upon share of equity to the other spouse who gets removed from both the old loan and the title to the property. Further, if the retaining spouse cannot secure financing, the court can order the property be sold so you can get your share of the equity. Even if you did not buy it together and he paid the monthly payment with communal income, I have actually seen divorce decrees where the non-owning spouse was able to get equity out of a home she was never on title to. My caution is that you are talking about a lot of money and if not done correctly (by you being too trusting) you could lose out and have little recourse. I would strongly find a good divorce attorney (if this is where the relationship is going), or a good real estate attorney if it's just the giving up ownership in exchange for some cash. ~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z Team of NEXA Mortgage ~ NMLS 40586 ~ Licensed in Arizona, California, Georgia, Oregon and Washington ~ www.ApplyYes.com 480-889-9000